Chuck Vs The Bad & Abnormal & Horrible Life
by ersk4
Summary: Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to “Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life.”
1. Chapter 1 Welcome Back Chuck

**CHUCK VS. THE BAD & ABNORMAL & HORRIBLE LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life."

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **You should read my other story "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life" before reading this story. WHY? Because this story is a sequel and some things won't make any sense unless you read the other story first!

**ANOTHER NOTE:** Yes, it has been a long time since I've written and posted a new Chuck story. Sorry about that. But real life and other things have kept me so busy that I had little time for Chuck fiction writing. Also, I have a rule about fan fiction writing – I do NOT post any chapters until I have at least a first draft of the entire story completed. Doing that practically guarantees that the complete story will be posted and you won't be left hanging there without an ending. I do hate it when writers don't finish their stories. So I have vowed to NEVER do that.

**AND STILL ANOTHER NOTE:** After I finished the story "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life," malamoo asked if I planned to do a sequel. A sequel? No way! I thought. Then an idea came to me. Then all of these scenes came to me. And guess what? A sequel was in the works! So my thanks to malamoo! And if you haven't read any of her Chuck stories, DO SO! My favorite of her stories is the "Chuck vs. the Then and Now" series.

-

**CHAPTER 1 – WELCOME BACK CHUCK!**

"Must be hell," Chuck muttered.

And it DID feel like hell. More precisely, he felt like hell. He felt pain, pain and more pain. It seemed as if pain was the only thing that existed for him right now. Pain throbbed in his head and seemed to flow through his entire body, from the ends of hair right down to the tips of his toes. Along with the pain he felt all sorts of other things at once – dizziness, nausea, weakness, hot, cold, paralysis, fatigue and anything else that he just couldn't think of to list right now because of all of the pain he felt.

When the pain receded just a little, he considered opening his eyes. Just the thought of that made him ill. But he needed to open his eyes. He needed to know where he was and what was going on. He was lying down on a bed. At least he assumed he was lying on a bed. Since awakening, he had yet to open his eyes. So he could have been lying on a cloud for all he knew.

He willed his eyelids to open and after just a slight flutter, terrible pain shot through his entire body again. He quickly clamped his eyelids shut and tried to stay still, to keep away the pain.

Stay still, stay absolutely still, Chuck silently commanded himself.

He still wondered where he was. Was he in a hospital? Was he home?

He listened. No familiar or telltale noises. In fact, it was quiet. Too quiet for a hospital. And too quiet for home. Unless he was alone at home.

Chuck kept listening but didn't hear anything. Only one way to find out, he decided. He had to open his eyes and look. He dreaded the pain that was sure to follow. But right now, it was the only option to finding out where he was.

Slowly and hesitantly, Chuck tried opening his eyelids just a crack. Pain once again shot through his head but he willed himself to endure and to open his eyelids just a fraction more. He could see a light, some sort of ceiling light fixture. It didn't look familiar. It didn't look like the light fixture on the ceiling at home.

He willed his eyes to move slightly to the left, to get a look at something else in the room. The pain flared up again. By some strength and effort that he didn't know he possessed, he kept his eyes open and kept looking, trying to see some sort of clue as to where he was.

He saw a wall, some sort of wooden wall. And on it was a painting, a painting of a forest. The painting wasn't familiar. At least he couldn't remember ever owning a painting like that. Or any painting for that matter.

Chuck looked a little more to the left and saw a small table with a lamp on it right next to the head of his bed. The table, a classic wooden design, looked old fashioned or antique or…what was the term? Classic? Rustic? Old world? Classic American? Woodsy? Chuck thought. Then he wondered why he was bothering to think of the correct term for the furniture.

He glanced around the room more. The bed he was lying on was large, a queen size. The frame was old, classic looking like the table with the lamp. The quilt on the bed, on which he lay, was decorated with colored squares. He saw a cushiony chair in one corner. The room seem to be like a lodge or cabin.

This couldn't be any room of his. He sure didn't remember having a room like this. OK, so I'm in some strange room that I've never been in before, Chuck thought. He didn't know what house or building this strange room was in. If he wanted to know more, he'd have to get up. He shuddered at the pain such an action would cause. But he had to know where he was. He took a breath, braced himself for the pain that was sure to come, then pushed onto the bed's mattress with his hands and attempted to sit up.

He moved just a few inches off of the mattress until the pain took over. The pain reached higher levels this time and staggered him. It was too much, he couldn't do it as he groaned and plopped back down on the bed.

His breathing elevated into frantic gasps as he lay on the bed and silently prayed for the pain to stop. Then soft hands grasp his head. The hands held him still and gently stroked his head and his hair. And then, he heard a soft, calming voice.

"Easy, easy Chuck. Stay still, still. Just stay still and it will pass."

The voice was kind and loving. It soothed and relaxed him. The hands continued stroking and touching and the voice kept urging him to relax and calm down. And as the pain receded, he could hear the voice more clearly. It sounded familiar, very familiar.

Chuck tried to think of who the voice and the hands belonged to. He knew that voice. He knew that it was someone close to him, someone important to him. Someone I love? he thought.

The pain was all gone. And now he could easily and clearly hear the voice, hear the concern and the love in it. The voice was definitely familiar. I know who that is, Chuck thought. He was sure of that, yet the identity of the voice evaded him for a moment. Then it hit him. Of course, he knew that voice -- his wife.

He slowly opened his eyes and stared into the loving face of the women seated beside him on the bed. Upon seeing that his eyes were open, his wife leaned over until her face was just a few inches from his.

"Hi," she said smiling. "Welcome back Chuck!'

"Hi," he answered and tried to smile but the pain started to well up.

"Easy, easy," she said again as she gently and softly stroked his head. "Try to stay as still as you can. It will pass soon, I promise. I've already given you the pain killers. Just hang in there until they take effect."

"Pain killers?"

"Yes. They'll help you. I promise."

"Did something happen? Was I in an accident or something?" Chuck asked.

"The two of you had a little fall while you were out exploring that gulley."

"Two of us?"

She indicated to her right with a slight motion of her head. Chuck looked – slowly so to lessen any pain. Standing by the bed was a little girl with dark hair and a band-aid on her forehead. For a brief moment, he didn't recognize her. But then he realized that it was their daughter. What happen? Where are we? he wondered.

His wife softly stroked his head again. "I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?"

"I shouldn't have let the two of you go off on your own. You've been weak and not in the best of shape since the accident. But I thought you were OK enough for a walk and—"

"The fall in the gulley?" Chuck asked.

"No, no, no. The car accident that you were in a couple of weeks ago."

Chuck stared at her blankly. She sighed. "You don't remember, do you?"

He shook his head.

She sighed again. "You were in a pretty bad auto accident a couple of weeks ago. You had to stay in the hospital for a few days. And you've been recovering ever since. We decided to come here for some rest and relaxation. You're still pretty weak, but you and I talked and we decided that some time away and some peace and quiet would be good for you. Things have been going well so far on this trip. But you had that fall and…."

Evidently I hit my head in a fall and now I've got one hell of headache, Chuck thought. I hope I haven't ruined things, he thought as he looked at both his wife and daughter who smiled at him. Well, maybe things are now looking up, he added as he attempted to smile back.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah Walker's head hurt. It hurt badly. But at the moment she didn't care about the pain and whether or not the pain would ever go away. She didn't care because, at the moment, she was with Chuck and he was taking care of her.

Her head rested in his lap and one of his hands lay on her head as if to hold it and try to stave off the pain. His other hand stroked her hair and her cheek gently and slowly. She looked up into his eyes and she saw concern, care, worry, admiration, and love, most of all love. And all of that was for her.

She looked at him and smiled. Chuck said nothing but smiled back and continued to hold her.

Wonderful, Sarah thought, so wonderful because it's…what was the word that she wanted to use? She tried to think of it. It's…it's…it was a word that Chuck used frequently about his life. Well, not about his life but what he wanted his life to be. What was that word? Normal! Normal, that was it. This is so wonderful because it's normal. Right now they were a normal, loving couple just enjoying life.

I could get used to this, Sarah thought as she felt comfortable and loved. No wonder Chuck wanted normal so badly. She reached up with one hand, gripped the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Sarah didn't care about the pain in her head or anything else. She wanted to kiss Chuck, her lover, her boy friend, her best friend, her everything. He leaned down and their lips got closer and….

"Walker!"

Chuck pulled back, turned his head and looked off in a distance, to where the voice came from. He looked back down at Sarah and with a motion of his head indicated the direction of the voice.

"Just ignore it," Sarah said as she reached up to the back of his head again and tried to pull him back down to her lips.

Chuck didn't lean down. He smiled and shook his head.

"Walker!"

"They'll go away. Just ignore it," Sarah insisted. Once again, she tried to pull him down for a kiss but Chuck wouldn't move. He smiled again but his eyes looked sad. He shook his head again.

"Walker!"

"No Chuck. I don't want that. I want this, I want you, I want us. I don't want that," she said rapidly as a feeling of futility started to come over her.

"Walker!"

The voice was louder and stronger now. Sarah turned her head, looking for the source. But she couldn't see it. She turned back to Chuck. But he wasn't there. He was gone. And she was alone.

"Chuck?" she whispered. He was not there. "Chuck?" she called again, but louder. Nothing. No one. She started to panic. Where was Chuck? What happened to him? Where was he? "Chuck! Chuck! CHUCK!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah Walker's eyes flashed open and she lunged upward.

"CHUCK!" she screamed.

Her CIA training and instincts quickly kicked in. Her eyes rapidly scanned what was around her, assessing, thinking, planning. She was in a bed of a hospital room. One arm had an IV in it. She reached for the IV, intending to pull it out, as she swung her legs over to the side of the bed. But then strong hands gripped her and stilled her. With a snarl, she fought back.

"Walker! Calm down! It's me!"

She looked. John Casey. "Let me go!" she screamed. "I have to get to Chuck."

"And where exactly are you going to go to get to him?" he responded while trying to keep her still. "Do you know where he is? Do you?"

Sarah stopped. It took a moment for his words to sink in. He was right. She didn't know where Chuck was.

"Now calm down, lie back down and let's figure this out. Racing off to who knows where isn't going to get Chuck back. OK?" Casey said.

She nodded and lay back down in the bed. "How long have I been out? Where am I?" she asked.

"Slow down! One question at a time!" Casey said. He looked at her, as if to make sure that she would stay still. "All right. Do you know what happen? What's the last thing you remember?"

Sarah thought. She and Chuck had gone out on a date. It had been a real date not a cover date. But if Casey or anyone else in the government had asked, they would have said it was a cover date. The dinner had been good. They had a great time sitting around and talking. It was one of the most enjoyable dates she had ever had, Sarah thought. They had finished eating but stayed in the restaurant talking. Then they left and headed back to Chuck's apartment. When they arrived, the evening was cool and pleasant. They strolled around the apartment complex, taking their time, talking, enjoying each other's company, and then….

And what happened then? Sarah thought. She couldn't remember anything after that. She tried again to replay the events in her mind. She and Chuck walked around the complex, she had her arm linked with his. They talked, joked and teased each other, and then….

What happened next? Sarah asked herself again. Why couldn't she remember what they did or said next?

She willed herself to concentrate harder, to dig deeper. They walked around the courtyard. Chuck told her all about some old movie, repeating some of the funny lines, she laughed at the jokes and his imitations, he tried to get her to do some imitations and she kept insisting that she couldn't. But then he smiled, leaned closer, stared right into her eyes, and said "Surely you won't deny me an opportunity to see your comedic side, will you Miss Walker?"

She was about to protest that she wasn't funny, but then she became so aware and so affected by the closeness of his face to hers. And she suddenly wanted to kiss him. She shut her eyes and leaned forward. She felt his lips starting to press against hers and then…. And then, Sarah asked herself. What happened then? We were kissing and then … what happen?

She remembered.

"I was attacked. I was attacked from behind. Somebody knocked me out," she said.

Casey nodded. "With a metal rod. Got you right on the head with a really good whack."

She questioned his remark. "You saw what happened?" she asked.

"The surveillance cameras I have out there, the attack was recorded. We got the whole thing, including a very clear image of your attacker," he answered.

Casey pulled out his iPhone and pressed some buttons. "I have the image here." He paused before handing the phone to Sarah for a look. "Try not to freak out too much, OK?" he said. And then he gave her the iPhone.

Puzzled by that warning, Sarah looked. In spite of what Casey said, Sarah instantly felt enraged at what she saw.

"JILL!" she spat.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"All right, you look better and you've actually moved your head without groaning in pain. I think the pain killers have done their job. So let's try sitting up, OK?" Jill said to Chuck with a smile.

Chuck smiled back at his wife. She was right. He did feel better. He sat up and was surprised when the effort was painless.

"Yes, you moved and you kept smiling," Jill remarked with a look of satisfaction. "You definitely are feeling better."

"Sure am," Chuck replied. He swung his legs over to the side of the bed and then stood up while holding out his arms and proclaiming, "Look, no hands!"

"Chuck! Don't overdo it!" Jill cautioned.

"I think I'm fine. It's OK. Don't worry."

He felt a little weak but at least the pain was gone. He looked down at their daughter who had remained quiet while she stood beside the bed, watching her parents. Dark-haired and green-eyed, Victoria had been born three years ago, four years after he and Jill had gotten married. Chuck crouched down and examined the small bandage on Victoria's forehead.

"Does it hurt Vicky?" he asked.

"Chuck! It's Victoria! You know I don't like her being called Vicky," Jill said.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting," Chuck said with a glance at his wife. He turned back to their daughter. "Does it hurt Victoria?" She shook her head no. She still hadn't said a word. Concerned, Chuck leaned a little closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you OK? Is something wrong?" he asked softly, looking into her eyes.

Her face stayed impassive for just a few seconds. Then her whole expression seemed to crumble and she burst into tears, wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck and hugged him fiercely.

"YOU SCARED ME!" she wailed.

Chuck held her tightly and picked her up. He rubbed and patted her back and tried to comfort her. "It's OK! It's OK!" he said. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He let her cry it out and then when she seemed to settle down a little, he lifted her head up so that they could look at each other.

"What happened? What scared you?" he asked.

She looked for a moment like she was going to start crying again. But she didn't. With a sniffle or two, she whispered "I thought you were dead." Her eyes got big with fright and she looked like she was going to start crying again.

"Hey, hey, hey," Chuck said while stroking her hair. "I'm not dead. I'm right here." He gripped her chin with one hand and looked right into her eyes. "I'm right here. OK?" Victoria nodded.

Chuck then felt arms wrap around him. He turned his head and saw Jill leaning into the two of them and smiling. "Daddy is right here sweetheart. And mommy is right here too. Everything is just fine. It's all just fine. You don't need to be scared. It's all just fine," she said. She stroked Victoria's hair with her right hand. Her left hand rubbed Chuck's back. Then it moved upward to his head and hair and stroked. She looked lovingly in Chuck's eyes and smiled.

Chuck smiled back and gazed back at his wife, looking into her eyes. Jill was right. It was all just fine. And then for just a second, he suddenly saw something in Jill's eyes. He wasn't sure what, but it just didn't seem right. And then, Chuck felt cold.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"JILL! IT WAS JILL!" Sarah raged.

"Calm down!" Casey warned.

"Jill has Chuck and you want me to calm down?" Sarah complained.

"Keep your voice down."

Sarah tried to check her anger and concern. Jill; Jill, the ex-girl friend of Chuck, the ex who betrayed and hurt Chuck; Jill, the Fulcrum agent who had tried to kill her; Jill had Chuck. She has MY Chuck and I'm supposed to stay calm, Sarah seethed silently.

"Get me up to speed," Sarah commanded. "What's going on? What's being done? Do we have any leads on where she might have gone?"

"Nothing so far. We've alerted every police station, every FBI agency, every CIA and NSA sub command post across the state and onward about the kidnapping. Everyone's on full alert and we're hoping something will pop up soon.

"How long have I been out of it? How long has it been since she took Chuck?"

"About 36 hours. You got conked and Chuck got taken the night before last, Tuesday night. You were unconscious and possibly in a coma for the rest of that night and all day yesterday. It's now Thursday morning," Casey explained.

"I've got to get out of here. We have to find Chuck," Sarah said.

"Calm down!" Casey said again. "I don't think Ellie is going to allow you to be checked out. You got a pretty good knock on the head. You were lucky that your skull wasn't fractured. And –"

"Ellie! Oh my God! Does she know that Chuck was kidnapped? Does she know it was Jill?"

"She knows about the attack. Walker, it happened right outside the apartment. She heard Chuck yelling after you got hit. Jill took Bartowski out of there and got clean away. Ellie was the one who found you. But she doesn't know it was Jill—"

"JILL!" a voice from behind the pair screamed. Sarah and Casey turned their heads toward the doorway. There stood Ellie with a look of horror on her face.

"Jill? What about Jill? Did Jill have anything to do with my brother's disappearance?" Ellie demanded.

**END CHAPTER 1**


	2. Chapter 2 Memories

**CHUCK VS. THE BAD & ABNORMAL & HORRIBLE LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life."

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **This chapter and the others to follow will be longer.I hope that's OK with you. And please review!

-

**CHAPTER 2 – MEMORIES**

Sarah cursed silently. She had been so concerned and worried about Chuck that she hadn't been more aware of where she was. Ellie had walked right into the hospital room and heard that Jill was responsible for Chuck's kidnapping. Sarah looked at Casey as Ellie continued in her tirade about Jill. He looked upset. Upset, Sarah thought, more like pissed. Sarah tried to think of some other way out of this but quickly realized that there wasn't. They had to tell Ellie the truth. At least part of it.

Sarah looked again at Casey. He stared back with an expression like 'No way am I doing this." Sarah rolled her eyes and turned her head to face Ellie, who had finally stopped talking and awaited an answer from them.

"Yes Ellie, Jill is involved," Sarah said.

Ellie said nothing in response. But her eyes blazed. She looked back at Sarah and then looked at Casey, waiting for them to say something more. Once again, Casey said nothing but his eyes silently communicated to Sarah. "Your call!" they seemed to say.

Sarah sighed and then spoke again. "As near as we can determine, after Chuck and I got back to the apartment after our date, Jill was hiding and waiting. She knocked me out and then took Chuck. John was just telling me this when you walked in. We've notified the police about this and hopefully they'll find Chuck."

"So Jill did this?" Ellie asked.

Sarah nodded.

"I always hated that bitch," Ellie spat.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck sat at the picnic table bench outside the cabin watching Victoria play in the small sand pit nearby. He wished he felt better. He wasn't in any pain any more but he sure felt weak. He had felt this way all day. He complained about it to Jill who told him it was normal considering the accident that he had been in.

The accident, he thought. He couldn't remember anything about the accident. Jill assured him that was also normal.

And the strange thing was that he also couldn't remember much about the past few days. Jill had told him that the three of them had come to Benford State Park and rented a cabin for a vacation to relax after that auto accident he had. And it had been a wonderful vacation so far, she said. They had gotten away from the city and the crowds. They had peace and quiet, swimming, relaxing, walking trails, cooking outdoors and indoors, and a lot of other things. At least they had until he and Vicky – Victoria he quickly amended – had fallen down that gulley.

And he couldn't remember that either. Two accidents and I can't remember anything about either one of them?

"Chuck, that's—" Jill started to say.

"I know, I know. That's normal," he finished. Jill had been using the word "normal" a lot ever since his headache lessened and he was able to move around freely.

Jill. Thinking about her took him back to the days when they first met at Stanford, how they had become friends, how they hung out together and how he fell in love with her and she with him. They stayed together and spent every moment they could while they were at Stanford. They graduated in the same year and they went through the same graduation ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, when all of the graduates filed out of the auditorium, Chuck raced to find her. The two of them were supposed to meet and then get together with both of their families for a celebratory dinner. But before that, while they were alone, Chuck wanted to ask Jill something.

A few minutes later, he spotted her by a tree outside of the auditorium, glancing in every direction, looking for him. He rushed over to her and they embraced.

"We did it!" Chuck proclaimed happily. "We made it through college!"

"Next stop, the world," Jill declared.

"No, the next stop is life, hopefully, our life together," he replied as he removed his arms from around her and then he reached down into his pocket for a little black box that he had been saving for some time.

Jill looked puzzled. And when Chuck dropped down to one knee, her jaw dropped and her eyes grew big. He pulled out the box, opened it up to reveal an engagement ring and looked up hopefully at her.

"We've graduated and now we'll go out into the real world. I can't think of anyone who I'd rather have with me to face everything the world has to offer and throw at me than you Jill. I want us to face it all together. I love you and I want to be with you forever. So Jill Roberts, will you marry me?" Chuck said.

Jill started crying. She smiled hugely, nodded her head repeatedly and then said "Yes!" again and again and again.

They each got jobs, her in pharmaceuticals, he in software, and months later married and had been ever since. That was a little over seven years ago. Vicky – Victoria, he corrected himself -- had been born a little over three years ago. And everything was still great and wonderful in their marriage.

At least until this accident, Chuck thought again miserably as he stared at their daughter rolling and pushing her toys about in the sand. He felt hands on the back of his shoulder. He turned and found a smiling Jill.

"You OK?" she asked.

"I guess," he replied.

She sat down on the bench next to him. She looped an arm through his, leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Are you still frustrated and upset because you can't remember the accident or coming to this park for our vacation?"

"Yeah," he said with sigh.

Jill reached over and gripped his hand. "Just give it time Chuck. It will all be fixed soon."

"Fixed?" Chuck asked, puzzled by her use of that word.

"Come back to you, I mean it will come back to you. It will all come back to you and you'll remember it all soon," Jill quickly responded.

I hope so, Chuck thought as he again turned his head toward Victoria playing. He studied the young girl. She had Jill's straight dark hair. Not one of my insane curls, he thought gratefully. She also had Jill's eyes. Her nose looked like his.

Victoria stopped playing, frowned and studied something intently in the sand. She turned her head toward Chuck.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Yes Victoria?"

"Can you fix this?" she asked and held up one of her toy cars.

Chuck stood up and took one step and then had to stop. He suddenly felt dizzy. He leaned over a little and put his hand on the picnic table to steady himself. Jill was instantly against him and helped him. "Easy, easy," she said.

Chuck took a deep breath. The dizziness passed but he still felt weak. For crying out loud, he cursed silently. I'm just trying to walk three or four steps not move a building. What it's going to take for me to feel normal again? He smiled at Jill. "I'm OK now," he assured her and loosened her grip on him. Jill looked skeptical but said nothing.

He slowly walked over to the small sand pit and crouched down beside Victoria. He took the small toy car from her hand and looked at it closely.

"That's from Batman," she noted.

Suddenly an image appeared in Chuck's mind. He stood in the Nerd Herd station and in front of him was a beautiful blonde woman. Standing nearby was a bearded man. The woman smiled inquiringly at him, as if waiting for some explanation. "That's from Batman," he said. The woman smiled and replied "Cause that makes it better."

Who, what was that? Chuck thought. The woman's face burned into his mind as if she was someone important to him. He couldn't get that face out of his head. Who was she? WHO WAS SHE?

"Daddy?"

Chuck was startled out of his thoughts by his daughter's voice. "What…what Victoria?" he asked.

"My car?"

"Oh…yeah," he replied. He looked at the toy Batmobile. A wheel was missing. He glanced down in the sandpit. "See the wheel anywhere honey? We need to find it first," he said as he crouched down alongside his daughter to look for the missing toy wheel.

It took Chuck a while to find it. He kept seeing that blonde woman's face.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They spent most of the day outside. Before lunch, they walked on one of the nature trails. Chuck still felt tired and had to stop and rest a lot. Fortunately, there were plenty of rest stops or "Buzzards' Roosts" as they were so named along the trail. Jill didn't seem to mind the frequent rest stops. During one stop, she sat with Chuck and leaned against him while they watched Victoria looking off the trail for wildlife. She thought she saw some deer and started to run after them.

"Victoria! Stay right here! Do NOT run off!" Jill commanded.

"But mommy, there are some—"

"I don't care what you see. That's off of the trail and you HAVE to stay on the trail and stay near us," Jill said firmly.

Victoria pouted. She turned away from both Jill and Chuck and didn't look their way for the next few minutes.

"Sorry," Chuck whispered.

"For what?"

"Well, I'm slowing down things and being a burden to you and Victoria."

"Chuck, this is a walking trail, not a race track. We're walking and taking things slow. There's no need to rush around on this. And she really isn't supposed to go off the trail. She'll get over it really quick as there are other things for her to do – swimming, the playground. And she'll get to do them later. So she'll get over it."

Chuck shook his head and let out a breath. "I just wish I would quit feeling so weak and would feel normal."

Jill looked directly at him. "You were in a car accident and it's going to take a while to recover and get back to normal. It will just take time. And fortunately, we have lots of time. OK?"

"OK," he replied.

She leaned forward and kissed him. When she pulled back, she smiled and then whispered "How about we do something…normal tonight, after Victoria is asleep." She kept smiling at him.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Victoria called.

"Yes?" both Chuck and Jill said.

"Can we go now?"

"You ready?" Jill asked Chuck.

"Yeah! Let's move on!" he said as he stood up.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later in the day, after lunch, they went swimming in the lake. They had the area all to themselves and swam and splashed in the water. Well, Jill and Victoria get to swim while I sit around, Chuck lamented to himself. He sat on the shore watching his wife and daughter laughing while they spent time in the water. He had tried to do some swimming but the most he could manage was some wading before his strength gave out. So he stood in the water for a while and then went ashore to sit and watch.

Dammit, I can't even wade alongside my gorgeous wife while she's in a swim suit, he moaned silently.

He marveled at Jill's good looks and at how spectacular she looked. The one piece, green swimsuit clung to her body and showed off her beautiful form.

How lucky can I get, to be married to someone as beautiful as her and to have a daughter with her, Chuck mused.

Eventually, Jill and Victoria came in from the water. Victoria sat down and started playing on the shore. Jill walked back to where Chuck was sitting. She smiled spectacularly at him and bent over to retrieve some toy shovels and buckets. Chuck couldn't help but stare at her body. Jill noticed and smiled even bigger. She took the toy tools down to Victoria. After telling her to stay where she was playing and not go into the water, Jill came back to where Chuck sat. They sat together and faced toward Victoria, keeping an eye on her.

Jill moved against Chuck, pressing as much skin as possible against him.

"I'm—"

"Chuck, if you apologize again for being a damper on things, I'm going to commit some acts of violence on you," Jill warned.

He grinned and said nothing.

Jill reached over with one hand and stroked his arm and then his chest. "Mmmmmmm," she sighed.

He looked at her. "Tonight," she promised. Her eyes said much more.

Chuck then felt a shiver pass through him. But it was not a shiver of delight or anticipation. It was in fear. What's wrong with me? he thought. Why would I be scared of my own wife?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They grilled some hamburgers on the outdoor grill by the cabin for dinner. They were all hungry and the food tasted extra delicious. After dinner, they played some board games. As the evening wore on, Chuck started feeling tired. And around 7:30pm, when Victoria yawned, Jill declared that it was time for the youngster to go to bed. She protested a little but kept yawning. They walked her to one of the bedrooms. As she got ready for bed, she begged for a story.

"Daddy, you want to do the honors?" Jill asked Chuck.

Chuck looked at the stack of books on the small table next to the bed and his eyes instantly went to the "Harry" titles – "Harry the Dirty Dog," "Harry and the Lady Next Door," and "Harry Goes to the Beach."

"I remember these. I read them when I was a kid," he noted as he pulled out "Harry and the Lady Next Door."

He sat on the edge of Victoria's bed and read about how a neighbor's singing voice annoyed Harry the dog. By the time, he finished reading, Victoria was barely awake. Both he and Jill leaned over, kissed her good night. They walked together to door of the bedroom and glanced back. Victoria was asleep. They turned off the light and shut the door.

The second the door was shut, Jill leaned forward, wrapped her arms around Chuck and kissed him hungrily. When she pulled away after several seconds, Chuck turned his head and yawned.

"Well, I usually have a better effect on you than that," Jill said.

"Sorry," Chuck said as he tried and failed to stifle another yawn. "I just feel so tired."

She reached over with one finger and stroked the front of his shirt. Then she kissed his cheek. "Go get ready for bed. Wait for me there. I'll be right in," she said seductively.

Chuck turned and went to the cabin's other bedroom. He went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth. Then he walked out of the bathroom and pulled off his shoes, socks, pants and shirt. He sat on the bed in his undershirt and underwear. He felt exhausted and wondered if he could stay awake much longer. His eyelids drifted shut. Then he heard a voice softly calling his name. He opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep and was now lying on the bed. He lifted up his head and looked toward the door. A beautiful blonde woman stood there, dressed in lingerie and looking adoringly at him. He stared in shock at the woman. It was the blonde that he saw in his mind earlier when he had fixed Victoria's toy car.

She smiled. "Now that's more the reaction I expect," she said.

Chuck stared in shock. The blonde sounded just like Jill. He closed his eyes and shook his head and looked again. It wasn't that blonde. It was Jill. What was I thinking? Chuck thought. How could I have been thinking of another woman with my wife right in front of me? Jill smiled and moved toward the bed. She climbed onto it, got on all fours and crawled predatorily toward Chuck. And as she got near him, she planted her body against his and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him hungrily while her hands roamed all over his body.

When she finally broke the kiss, Chuck's head fell back onto the pillow. The kiss took his breath away. And it also seemed to sap most of his energy. He tried to keep from falling asleep. Come on Bartowski, stay awake, you can do this, he silently chastised himself.

Jill lips traveled along the side of his head and down his neck. Her hands wandered all over his chest, down his stomach and then grasped the bottom of his undershirt. She pulled it up, exposing his stomach and chest and started kissing him there. Then she stopped when she noticed Chuck was not responding. She looked up at his face. His eyes were closed and his head was slumped over to one side.

"Chuck? Chuck!" She shook him a little. "Chuck, come on, stay awake!"

But it was not to be. An exhausted Chuck had fallen asleep.

"Dammit!" Jill cursed.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Why? Why? Why do things like this keep happening with Chuck? Ellie asked herself for about the fifteenth time as she pedaled furiously on the stationary exercise bicycle that Devon kept in the apartment. Chuck's kidnapping had been nagging at her so much this morning that she couldn't sit still. She paced around the apartment, tried to read the newspaper, tried to watch television, tried to eat something. But none of those things helped. Finally, in an effort to wear off some of the tension and anxiety, she got on the exercise bicycle and pedaled. And pedaled and pedaled and pedaled. And while she pedaled, her thoughts raced over Chuck and Sarah and everything that had gone on with them.

Ellie couldn't believe it. She just could _not_ believe it. Finally, _finally_ the relationship between those two seemed to be going somewhere and now this had happened. Jill, that woman, the ex, the one that had broken Chuck's heart, the bitch, had attacked Sarah and kidnapped her baby brother. Never in her life had she imagined Jill capable of such a thing. But then how well did she really know Jill? She hadn't seen nor talked to Chuck's ex since before she broke up with Chuck. Jill had seemed perfectly normal then. But now to find out that she had become some sort of psycho stalker bitch.

How could this have happened? Ellie wondered as her pedaling picked up speed. And just when things had been going so well for a change with Chuck and Sarah, much to Ellie's relief. Ever since Chuck had met Sarah at the BuyMore and gone out on that date, Ellie had watched as her brother and the new woman in his life seemed to dance around and avoid their true feelings. Exactly why, Ellie could never figure out. She had seen how those two looked at each other, seen how their expressions softened when the other's name was mentioned, and how well they went together. As far as Ellie was concerned, those two were meant for each other. And after a while, she could easily tell that they loved each other.

So what was the problem? What was going on with them? Ellie had asked over and over again. She tried talking to Chuck about it but got nowhere. "It's complicated," he always said.

Complicated? Complicated? Ellie raged. What is so complicated about being in love?

But she did have to admit that things did seem to get complicated with those two. Like when Chuck broke up with Sarah to date that deli owner. What was her name? Ellie tried to think. Something with an "L." Laura? Lynn? Lou? Lou! That was it. And then it was over almost as quickly as it had begun and Chuck was back with Sarah. Ellie had thought things were going all right after that. And then, a couple of months later, Chuck left the apartment to go on a date. Ellie had naturally assumed the date was with Sarah. But much to Ellie's shock and horror, he confessed that he was going out with Jill.

Jill? JILL! She couldn't believe it. She couldn't understand it. And she expressed as much to Chuck. And things seemed all right after that. There had just been that one date. Or so Ellie thought. She found out later from Morgan that Chuck had been seeing Jill a lot, had been sneaking around with Jill. Ellie couldn't believe it. How could he be so stupid to get back together with that bitch who broke his heart? How could he do that Sarah? she fumed.

Ellie was ready to level that stupid brother of hers. But then at the Thanksgiving dinner, Chuck walked in with Sarah. Ellie was ecstatic and relieved. Thank God that idiot woke up and saw what was in front of him the whole time. And once again, Ellie thought that things were OK. But the dancing around and avoiding their true feelings started right back up again.

What would it take for them to wake up and see what was in front of them? Ellie continuously ranted. What was going on? Several times Chuck claimed that Sarah didn't feel the same way about him that he did about her. No way! No way! Ellie thought. That girl is crazy about my brother and I can list a hundred or more instances that prove it.

Like the time last month when the pair went out to dinner with her and Devon. After they were seated at their table and given menus, a waitress -- an attractive and statuesque brunette -- came up to their table, greeted them and started to list the evening's specials. But then she paused and happily exclaimed Chuck's name.

"Janet?" Chuck exclaimed.

"One and the same," the waitress replied with her eyes beaming.

Ellie didn't know this girl. She looked at her brother for an explanation and in so doing saw Sarah's reaction. Sarah's expression and demeanor had darkened considerably as she watched the attractive waitress stroll over to Chuck, step into his personal space and start conversing.

Then it got a little amusing to Ellie as she watched Sarah quickly scoot closer to Chuck, loop her arm through his and interrupt the conversation with a "Who's this Chuck?"

It was a girl that Chuck knew from high school. Chuck had not dated her or anything like that. They were just friends. But Janet sure seemed interested in Chuck now, Ellie thought. Throughout the whole meal, she paid extra attention to Chuck and frequently strayed close, _really_ close to him. And if the daggers Sarah shot with her eyes had been real, Ellie thought, Janet would have been a pin cushion.

Sarah is in love with Chuck. And Chuck is in love with Sarah. So what was the problem, Ellie asked herself again while she pedaled on the exercise bicycle.

But then, after the two of them had been kidnapped by that cult, had been missing for weeks and had bonded with that little girl, something happened between them. Definitely something good, Ellie thought. They were different after that. They were seeing each other a lot more. Chuck was spending the night at Sarah's place a lot more. Sarah was spending more nights here at the apartment. They were touching each other more. And they both seemed so happy. Ellie remembered one morning when she woke up and walked out to the kitchen to start some coffee and discovered Chuck and Sarah in a passionate liplock.

Yes, something had happened between those two. Something definitely good. And finally, finally, she thought, their relationship was going the way it should.

And then Ellie started thinking wedding. Chuck is going to ask Sarah to marry him, he's going to ask her, he's going to ask her soon, Ellie thought excitedly. Every time those two came back from a date or whatever they did when they went off together in the evenings, Ellie's eyes immediately zoomed in on Sarah's left hand to look for the engagement ring.

But it was never there. But he's going to ask her soon, _soon_, she kept thinking. But then she got frustrated. Chuck seemed to be dragging his feet on popping the question. When she expressed those frustrations to Devon, he pointed out that Chuck may not want to get engaged and take attention away from his sister's upcoming wedding. Good point, Ellie thought, and resolved to talk to Chuck about that.

But before she could, Jill had attacked Sarah and kidnapped Chuck. Why do things like this keep happening to Chuck? Why? And why won't Jill leave Chuck alone and stay the hell out of his life, Ellie ranted.

She stopped pedaling and rested her forehead on the handle bars of the bicycle.

One scratch, just one scratch. If that bitch puts just one scratch on my baby brother, she will pay! She will pay! Ellie vowed.

Her stomach growled. Some lunch would be good right now, she thought. She shook her head, stood up and wandered to Chuck's room to check on Sarah and ask her if she wanted anything to eat.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah did not want to stay in bed but she had no choice. Ellie was keeping a close eye on her and making sure that she followed doctor's orders – specifically Dr. Ellie Bartowski's orders. Well, that was the condition Ellie had specified in getting Sarah out of the hospital. Sarah didn't want to stay in the hospital. She hated hospitals. She wanted out and she wanted out _immediately_ so that she could find Chuck. She had appealed to Ellie, thinking that she, as a doctor, could get an early release for Sarah. And Sarah had complied with the conditions Ellie laid out. The major one being that she come home with her and stay in bed and rest. "Do that and after a day, there's a good chance you can go about like normal," Ellie said.

So Sarah agreed. Ellie took her home and here she was in bed in Chuck's room. She could hear Ellie on the exercise bicycle in another room. Evidently, they were both restless and anxious about Chuck. Still, Sarah did have to admit that recuperating in Chuck's room was infinitely better than recuperating in a hospital room. It was comforting to be in his room. She was also able to get one of Chuck's T-shirts out of a drawer and wear that for sleepwear – a T-shirt that had Chuck's scent in it and made Sarah feel good. It also felt so comforting to be resting in the bed in Chuck's room – the very bed where they first made love.

Well, not exactly the first time, Sarah thought. They had actually made love many times before that. But they weren't themselves. A couple of months ago, they had been kidnapped by Fulcrum and then brainwashed into believing that they were a married couple. And during that time, they had…well, they had acted like a married couple in _every_ way, Sarah recalled. Those memories flooded back into her mind. Even though the brainwashing didn't control her any more, she could remember every intimate detail of their time on that island. Especially their lovemaking. And after they had escaped and the brainwashing no longer controlled them and when the whole adventure was all over, Sarah had gone to Chuck's bedroom one evening and they had made love. They had made love as themselves, no brainwashing, nothing controlling them.

We weren't ourselves on that island, Sarah thought. So the first time, here in this bed, was the real time. She glanced at the side of the drawer next to the bed. The picture that Sallie, the girl that had been their daughter on that island, had made for Chuck still hung there. Sarah smiled as she saw the stick figures of the three of them as a family.

We were a family, we were normal, she thought. Ever since she and Chuck had become lovers, normal had been on her mind a lot. Things had been going so well for them relationship-wise. In fact, Sarah had been about to talk to Chuck about their moving in together and getting a place of their own. Ellie and Devon were getting married in a few months. They would need their space. So Chuck would need to move out. The CIA could then find Chuck a new apartment or some house that would be safe. Then the two of them could be together and she could better protect him. All good and logical reasons for the move. All good and logical reasons that Sarah could put forth to Casey and General Beckman. But none of them were the main and most important reason: that she _wanted_ to move in with Chuck and be with him and around him more.

But now that future was in doubt. Jill had kidnapped Chuck and -- no, no, no, Sarah said to herself. She would not go there. She would find Chuck and get him back. Jill was not going to ruin their life together. No, no, NO!

She pulled Chuck's laptop over to her and turned the computer on. She accessed the Castle's mainframe via the wireless connection and then pulled up the file on Jill and perused it hoping to find something, _anything_, that could give her a clue as to where Jill was right now or where she might take Chuck.

God I hate that bitch, Sarah said to herself for the umpteen time since she had awaken in the hospital yesterday.

Her hatred for the infamous ex had built up long before she had even met the brunette face-to-face. When she had been permanently assigned to Chuck after he got the intersect in his head, she had studied his background and all information that the CIA and NSA provided. And that's where she first learned about Jill. The file didn't say much more than a brief description as an ex girl friend. Then as Sarah got to know both Chuck and Ellie better, she learned more about Jill from both of them.

She had ached for Chuck. What he must have gone through emotionally to be kicked out of Stanford for something he didn't do and then to have the woman he loved break up with him at the same time. The more she heard and the more she got to know Chuck, the more she despised that bitch.

Although she would have hated any woman who had done what Jill did to Chuck, Sarah had placed Jill in a level all to her own. The hatred compounded and intensified even more when Jill came back and Chuck got back together with her. Oh how that hurt.

Hurt? Sarah amended bitterly. It had felt like her heart had been torn into a million tiny pieces. But I tried to do what was best for Chuck, she recalled. I tried to step aside and not do anything to damage his relationship with a normal girl. And I tried to make sure that Jill didn't hurt Chuck again. It was for the best, what was best for Chuck.

And she had to admit that she couldn't blame Chuck. She had given Chuck so many mixed messages about their relationship that if she had been an air traffic controller, every plane on the planet would have crashed and burned. And he had broken up with her, Sarah recalled. And if he hadn't broken up with her, it wasn't like they were in a relationship for real or anything like that. So after severing the fake relationship with her because he wanted normal, along came Jill all wrapped up and ready like a normal girl.

She could still remember the pain she felt when she had to watch Chuck and Jill talking, smiling and kissing. And how it nearly tore her in two thinking of the pair in their love session in his room after they had recovered that flash drive on that one mission.

And of course, Jill was a brunette. Brunettes! It's always brunettes, Sarah sighed.

But then Jill turned out to be a Fulcrum agent and the relationship had to end. And truthfully, Sarah was delighted about that. Once I had Chuck safely away from that bitch's clutches, once I had her completely gone and away from him and once I had him for myself, she thought.

Yet, Jill seemed to always come back, pop up in Chuck's life. Even though he had finally exorcised her from his system, she still came back.

So help me, if she hurts Chuck, I will kill her, I will kill her, Sarah vowed silently.

She was also worried about Jill doing other things to Chuck but she tried very hard to not think about those.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Ellie knocked and called. "Sarah?"

"Come on in Ellie."

Ellie walked in and smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you."

"Well, let me take a look," Ellie replied and she started an examination.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

About 10 minutes later, Ellie pronounced Sarah as "progressing nicely" and that things "looked good."

"So you'll let me get out of here tomorrow?" Sarah asked hopefully.

Ellie nodded. "It looks good for that." She looked at Sarah closely and, noticing her sad expression, asked if she felt OK.

Sarah looked away from Ellie and tried to put what she felt into words. But it was difficult. She knew that expressing her feelings wasn't her strong suit. But she also knew that Ellie wouldn't drop it or leave until she got an answer.

"I…I just…it's hard to…I…." Sarah mumbled.

"Sarah, what is it? Is it Chuck?"

"I…I…I…." A voice in the back of Sarah's mind chastised her, urged her to just blurt it out. This was Ellie, Chuck's sister, not the CIA or NSA. Sarah looked up at Ellie and finally just said it.

"I want Chuck back and I want him back now. I want him away from that bitch and with me, where he belongs," she said angrily.

Ellie smiled. "I want him back here too. And I definitely want him away from Jill and with you. I've always thought you were a much better match for him than Jill." She shook her head. "I just can't believe this is happening, that Jill kidnapped Chuck. After she broke up with him and treated him that way, I thought that she wasn't good for him. But I never in my life imagined that she was dangerous, actually…a…a psycho."

Sarah nodded. "A while ago, when he got back with Jill for that brief time, I had suspicions about her but I…I had trouble convincing myself that it wasn't jealousy causing those suspicions. But it turned out I was right, I was right all along."

"Sarah, I could never figure out why Chuck got back together with Jill that time. What was going on? Why in the world did he get back with the woman who broke his heart? And how could he do that to you? You two were and are so obviously in love. I don't understand why he got back with her," Ellie said.

"It's comp—"

"You're going to say it's complicated, aren't you? Sarah, I do not understand what is so complicated about two people who are so in love with one another. I've tried to talk to Chuck about this and he says it's complicated. But I still can't believe that Chuck just dumped you and got back with Jill. I just can't believe he would do that to you. He's better than that."

"Ellie, don't blame Chuck. Most, if not all, the blame and fault lie with me. I've had some very bad relationships in the past and because of that, I've had problems and lots of issues. To be frank, I'm terrible at relationships because of all that. Chuck has had a lot to put up with in this because of me," she explained.

She sighed and then continued. "And it was because of those issues that he got back with Jill at that time. It was a bad time for both of us and those issues were causing problems for us. Chuck did break up with me then but not because of Jill. He broke up with me because of my problems. I understood why he did that but I hoped that we could work it out and get back together. But then right after that, Jill appeared. Right place, right time for her. Wrong place, wrong time for me. And…well, the rest, you probably know."

"I guess," Ellie replied. She stayed on the edge of the bed for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought. Then she stood up. "Lunch?" she asked.

Sarah nodded. "That would be great. Can I help?"

"No! You are to stay and rest as much as possible. You know that."

"I just thought I'd offer," Sarah replied.

"Let me take care of that." She turned to walk out of the room. Halfway to the door, she stopped and turned back to look at Sarah. "I'll sure be glad when things get back to normal around here," Ellie said and then left the bedroom to go to the kitchen and make lunch.

Something Ellie said got Sarah's attention. What was it? There was something that…something that…what was it? And then it hit her. Normal. Normal, normal, normal.

"Jill wants a normal life," she whispered out loud.

She pulled the computer back into her lap and accessed the Castle's computer network again.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ellie wandered back into Chuck's room, holding a tray of food. Sarah was in bed intently studying something on the laptop computer.

"Ready to eat?" Ellie asked.

Sarah looked up. "You wouldn't happen to have a photo of Jill somewhere, would you?" Sarah asked.

Ellie nearly dropped the tray. "Why do you want a photo of Jill?" Ellie inquired.

"Detective Sanderson contacted me and wants her photo," Sarah replied. After telling Ellie about Jill yesterday, Casey had arranged for a CIA agent to pose as a police detective working on the Jill case. Sarah wanted the photo for something else but she couldn't tell Ellie that. Ellie seemed to accept the reason but she didn't answer Sarah's question. In fact, Sarah thought that she saw annoyance and anger on Ellie's face as she seemed to be debating something silently.

"Ellie?" Sarah asked, wondering what Chuck's sister was thinking.

Ellie looked at Sarah for a moment. Then she spoke.

"I don't want you to make this into a bigger deal than it is or jump to any conclusions or anything like that, OK?" Ellie said.

Sarah wasn't sure what Ellie meant. But from the way she acted, Sarah had a feeling that she wouldn't like what was coming.

Seeing Sarah's concern, Ellie spoke some more. "Just don't…don't get upset, don't…it's really not a big…oh, to hell with it," Ellie sputtered. She set down the tray of food on Chuck's desk and then crouched down in front of it, opened the bottom drawer, rummaged through it and then pulled out a flat object. She stood up, walked over to the side of the bed and handed Sarah the object from the drawer of Chuck's desk.

Sarah looked. It was a photo frame, and a nice one at that. The type of photo frame that one would display on a desk or shelf out in the open for all to see. In fact, she thought, it was the type of frame for a photo of someone special. And that made her feel a little distressed when she saw a photo of Chuck and Jill in the frame.

She studied the photo. Both Chuck and Jill were dressed formally, Chuck in a tuxedo and Jill in some elegant green dress. Chuck looked handsome and so happy, Sarah thought. And, she had to admit, Jill looked gorgeous. The photo had some sort of studio background. Did they dress up for a photo shoot or had they been attending some sort of formal function and gotten their photo taken there? She stared at the photo trying to figure out what she should feel. She wasn't sure what to think about this.

"Chuck has kept a photo of Jill? Even after all these years and all she has done?" she said.

"Sarah, as I said, don't make this into a big deal. It's just a photo," Ellie cautioned.

"But Chuck and I…we're… Jill hurt him so much and…he still keeps a photo of her?"

"It's just a photo," Ellie repeated. "It means nothing. She means nothing. I know that. Sarah, I know my brother is totally, completely in love with you. You shouldn't be concerned about it."

Sarah thought for a moment. Ellie was right. But this still bothered her. That bitch broke his heart, betrayed him and even tried to kill me. And he has kept a photo of her all this time? But Ellie was correct. It was just a photo. Still….

"You're right Ellie. I shouldn't let it bother me. But when we get Chuck back, he and I are going to have a talk about this," Sarah vowed.

"Good," Ellie said with a smile.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The lab had been quick. They had gotten back to her in less than an hour after Sarah had taken a photo of that picture of Chuck and Jill with the camera in her phone and transmitted it with instructions to take the two people and come up with images of a possible son and daughter for the pair. When Ellie had said she hoped that things could get back to normal, it suddenly hit Sarah that Jill had kidnapped Chuck to set up a normal life. She had wanted Chuck with her on that island, had wanted the normal family life. Like Chuck and Sarah had. So Jill may have taken Chuck to try to get that. And that normal life would include a son or daughter.

The lab had given her several possible images of what a son or daughter of Chuck and Jill would look like. And now she was going through all missing children cases that had occurred in Los Angeles and nearby areas in the last few weeks.

More than likely, Jill would want a young daughter or son, maybe a three-year-old or a little older, Sarah thought. As she expected, there were a lot of missing children case files in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas for the past two weeks. Each case had a photo of the missing child. Sarah had a face recognition program to search for any that resembled Chuck or Jill. Then she would go through those more thoroughly and get the best choices and visit the parents and see if they had seen Jill hanging around recently, like just before their child disappeared. And that, she thought, just might help track down the bitch and get Chuck back.

END CHAPTER 2


	3. Chapter 3 Gotcha!

**CHUCK VS. THE BAD & ABNORMAL & HORRIBLE LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life."

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

-

**CHAPTER 3 – GOTCHA!**

"_We have two new recruits. They need your help with them," a technician told Jill._

_Jill sighed, took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. More brainwashing; it might be a long night, she thought. "Where are they?" she asked out loud._

"_Cell B5," the technician replied. "They work together, so they've kept them together for now. One, the female, is a CIA agent. She is an agent that has given us lot of trouble. They really want to convert her bad. If the conversion is successful, she'd be really valuable to us. The other is…well, we're not sure what he is. We thought at first that he was her partner. But he doesn't seem the type for an agent. He sure as hell doesn't act like an agent. Nor does he seem to have any skills like an agent should. Then we thought he was an asset. But what exactly he could do or have that could be valuable to the CIA, we're not…well, you'll just have to see him to believe it."_

_Jill nodded and walked down the hallway to the stairs to get to the basement and check out cell B5. She was certainly intrigued by what the man said. A CIA agent and a mystery man. That sounded strange. They didn't just snatch anybody for these conversions. They went after high level personnel, agents and assets who could help Fulcrum if successfully converted. And here they had grabbed someone who they didn't know. Probably just some civilian or pedestrian in the wrong place at the wrong time, Jill thought. It had happened before. She had seen as much ever since she was brought to this island months ago._

_She sighed again as she opened the stairway door and walked down the stairs to the basement. She had noticed that she sighed a lot nowadays. Had it been just months since she was busted out of prison and brought to this fake island community? It seemed like years. Even though the island was better than prison, she hated it. She couldn't leave, she had to stay here and help with the conversions and pretend to be a director at the fake corporation that Fulcrum had going on in their fake city on the island._

_She took the last step, opened the door to the basement, and turned left down the hallway toward the cells._

_Back in the simpler days, her college days, she never, EVER, imagined her life would end up like this. Everything seemed to have been going her way then. She loved college. She excelled in all of her courses. She was a highly regarded student with top grades. And she had been in love with a great guy, a guy who would have done anything and everything for her. It all had been going her way, she thought as she stopped at a door, punched in a code on the keypad and opened the door to the cell area. _

_If only I…if only I what? Jill thought bitterly. Well for starters, if only I had never joined Fulcrum. That's where it all began, didn't it? That's what started the whole downfall for me._

_If only I had never joined Fulcrum. If only I had stayed in a normal life. And if only I had never broken up with Chuck._

_Chuck! The tall, brown-haired nerd had been in her thoughts a lot for the past few months. Of all of the mistakes and missteps I made, that was the biggest of them all, she mused. If only I had never broken up with Chuck._

_Everything, this island, this work, this life, this situation would be more tolerable, more livable if she just had Chuck with her. Those days at Stanford had been good days. But she had to throw it all away, dump and leave him because Fulcrum had ordered it._

_What a mistake that had been, what a mistake, she thought. I wish I had never done that. I'd give anything to go back and change that. To have a normal life._

_There had been a chance to get him back. That time she had bumped into him at that conference and they started dating again. But it all went to hell, all because of Sarah Walker, Jill thought angrily. _

_She had suspected that there was something between Chuck and Sarah right from the start. It was the way Chuck talked about her and that certain look he got in his eyes when he did. He said they were just friends and co-workers. But there was no mistaking the way Sarah looked at Chuck. And there was no mistaking what was between the lines when Sarah told me not to hurt Chuck again, Jill recalled. That CIA agent was in love with Chuck. And Jill's suspicions that Chuck was in love with Sarah were confirmed at the end. What Chuck said and did to her when he locked her in that Nerd Herd vehicle played over and over in Jill's mind like a YouTube video._

"_You should know I wanted to help you. I was going to let you get away. But when you were about to kill Sarah made the decision for me. You're under arrest Jill and I'm breaking up with you!" Chuck said when he imprisoned her._

_It was a wound that never healed. In spite of what he did, she wished that she could change the way things happened with them. She wished she could get him back, get another chance with him without Sarah Walker around to mess things up._

_I'd give anything for another chance with Chuck, ANYTHING! She thought as she turned around a corner and arrived at cell B5. She lifted up her head to look at the recently arrived occupants and she couldn't believe it._

"_CHUCK!" she screamed._

_The man in the cell jumped. His jaw dropped and he stared in shock._

"_Jill?" Chuck said incredulously._

"_Chuck!" Jill said again, this time softer, as she stared in disbelief at the sight of her former lover in the cell. Chuck was one of the new "recruits"? The one they had recently brought in to be converted, the one that they couldn't figure out whether he was an agent or an asset? That meant that the agent, the one Fulcrum really wanted to convert must be…._

"_Hello Jill," a calm voice said._

_Jill turned her head slightly away from Chuck and looked toward the back of the cell. There was no mistaking that voice._

"_Sarah, Sarah Walker," Jill muttered with disgust as their eyes met._

_The blonde CIA agent sat on a bench in the back of the cell and stared back at Jill. She said nothing but her expression definitely had malevolence in it. Jill's mind filled with a whirlwind of emotions. If it hadn't been for Sarah, I wouldn't have been caught or put in prison, Jill thought bitterly. Sarah was why Chuck stopped me, caught me and broke up with me. Sarah got my Chuck. Now's my chance, now's my chance to get Chuck back._

_Jill summoned the guards. "Separate them. I want her in another cell," she said with a nod toward Sarah. _

_Chuck's head whipped around and he looked at Sarah with concern. Sarah's face darkened and she looked enraged as she stared at Jill. _

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"_What are you doing Jill? What's going to happen to Sarah?" Chuck demanded._

_The guards had just taken Sarah away to another cell and now Jill had Chuck alone. She looked at him and smiled._

"_Jill!" Chuck pleaded. "Please, don't hurt her! Please! I'll do anything. Just don't hurt her."_

_She continued smiling as she gazed at Chuck. "I know you will Chuck, I know you will. Don't worry. Everything is going to be OK. We're going to be together. We're going to be very happy. And Sarah won't come between us. She won't ever come between us again. You and I are going to be together and very happy."_

"_Jill! What do you mean? What's going on?"_

_Jill didn't answer. She just kept smiling._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Jill stood in front of the cell that held Sarah who glared angrily at Jill._

"_Jill! If you hurt Chuck, I swear…." the blonde CIA agent warned. As she spoke, her eyes promised many threats._

_Jill smiled at Sarah. "Oh don't worry Sarah, I can assure you that I won't harm Chuck. I have no intention of hurting Chuck…unless he asks me to." Jill giggled. "After all, when we were together at Stanford, I did get very excited sometimes and accidently scratch him. So I can't promise I won't do that again." And then she winked at Sarah._

_Sarah's eyes widened and she looked furious. Jill could definitely see that Sarah Walker would use a gun right now if she had one. Gotcha bitch, Jill thought._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"_Chuck is going to be paired with me," Jill insisted._

"_Mr. Bartowski is not the issue here. Agent Walker is. The others agree that the conversion will go better if she is paired with him," the scientist argued._

"_I don't want her anywhere near Chuck. Chuck is to be with me," Jill argued._

"_Agent Walker has a tremendous amount of tolerance and resistance to the preparatory drugs. That, along with her concerns, her feelings toward Mr. Bartowski, are making the conversion very difficult. We all agree that if we are able to convert her then her seeing him with someone else may strengthen those feelings subconsciously and enable her to beat the conversion. Pairing her with Mr. Bartowski may create a sort of calming effect and help the conversion to stick. We can see that she has strong feelings for him. So that could be used to our advantage."_

"_Pairing her with Chuck is not going to weaken her. It's going to strengthen her. You need to keep her away from him," Jill said._

"_As I said, we're having problems with the conversion on her—"_

"_Then get rid of her!" Jill said._

"_She's too valuable. If we can convert her, she'll be a tremendous asset. She—"_

"_Chuck is going to be with me," Jill insisted._

"_After we're successful with Agent Walker. Then you can have Mr. Bartowski."_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Jill made as much noise as she could when she heard activity outside of the closet. Someone was in the house, she realized. She had come to the house, Chuck and Sarah's fake home, when she realized that Chuck had beaten the brainwashing again. But Sarah had knocked her out, tied her up, gagged her, and locked her in the closet._

_She tried to yell for help. All she could manage was a muffled "MMMMMMMMMM."_

_But that was apparently enough as she heard the knob on the closet door turning. Then the door opened and she could see Derek Cavanagh, one of the scientists who worked with the conversions._

"_I thought I'd find you here," he said as he undid Jill's gag and then started on the ropes that bound her._

"_How?" Jill asked._

"_Never mind. We've got to get out of here. Walker and Bartowski escaped and they alerted the CIA and NSA. They're on their way. So come on. I need your help."_

"_Help with what?" Jill asked as she rubbed some circulation back into her wrists while stepping out of the closet._

"_The conversion technology. We need to take it with us."_

"_We can't possibly transport that. The machinery is way too big."_

"_No, I'm talking about the portable versions. We have several portable units. You'll be taking one," Cavanagh said._

_That could be useful, very useful, Jill thought._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah knew that the whole missing children thing was a longshot. But that didn't lessen her frustrations any. After getting the composite photos of what a son or daughter from Chuck and Jill might look like at various ages, Sarah had gone through every missing child report that had been filed in the Los Angeles and surrounding communities for the last two weeks in search of missing kids that resembled the composite photo.

She had found three possibilities – two missing girls, one three-year-old and one two-year-old, and a missing boy, three-years-old. In looking at the composite photos and the photos of the actual missing kids that had resemblances to Chuck and Jill, Sarah couldn't help feel – well, feel what she asked herself? Jealousy? Envy? Wanting? Longing?

Chuck and Jill would have had a beautiful child, she admitted. She wondered how such a child would turn out. She had no doubt about Chuck's abilities as a parent. She could easily picture him as a dad. No matter what task or what problem with a child, Chuck would face it and handle it. Sarah gazed at the photos again. What if she and Chuck had a child? What would their child look like? she wondered.

She shook her head as she spotted the right address for the next parents. So far today, she had visited two of the three parents. With each, she flashed her credentials, explained that there was a slim – _very_ _slim_ – possibility that their child's disappearance _may_ have something to do with another case and wanted them to go over the details and facts of their child's disappearance and look at a photo of Jill.

And so far nothing. The first possibility, the missing three-year-old boy, had been snatched by the divorced father. Witnesses had confirmed that. And the mother and step-father didn't recognize the photo of Jill. "Never seen her," they said immediately.

Sarah thanked them for their time, wished them luck in finding their missing son and left to go to the second possibility, the two-year-old girl. The mother and father were willing to help, to do anything that might help find their daughter. They went over the circumstances of their daughter's disappearance and they studied the photograph of Jill. They didn't recognize her. This daughter may have been taken by Jill but there wasn't anything solid to prove it or go on. So, once again, Sarah thanked the parents for their time, wished them good luck and traveled to the third possibility, the three-year-old daughter.

The mother, a thirtyish single parent, took Sarah into the living room after Sarah explained why she was there. A next door neighbor, another thirtyish single parent, was in the kitchen fixing some food as the mother told what happened to her daughter.

"I had just laid her down for a nap in her room. I started some laundry, sat down here to watch some TV. After about an hour, it was lunchtime. So I fixed some sandwiches, called Cindy but nothing. No answer. So I walked down the hallway, looked into her room and she was gone. The window was open and she was gone," the mother explained as she bent her head down.

"And you and the neighbors didn't see anyone?"

"Nobody."

"Could you please look at this photo? Have you ever seen this woman?" Sarah asked.

The mother took the photo of Jill and studied it for a few seconds. "No I haven't," she said with her eyes still on the picture. She looked up at Sarah. "Do you think this woman took my Cindy?"

"As I said before, all of this is a longshot. It was just speculation that your daughter's disappearance had something to do with another case and I was sent out to check. This woman is definitely involved with the other case. So I'm just showing you her photo to check," Sarah replied.

"I'm sorry. I've never seen her before. I wish I had so that there would be some clue or lead to finding my Cindy," the mother said sadly.

"Me too, me too," Sarah said softly.

The neighbor came out of the kitchen carrying a plate with a sandwich and some chips on it. She leaned over and set the plate down on the coffee table in front of the mother. "I'm sorry," she said as she looked at Sarah. "It was rude of me to not ask you. Are you hungry? Could I make you a sandwich?"

"Oh no, no thank you. I'm fine," Sarah replied. She reached over to the table to take back the photo but then noticed that the neighbor frowned while staring at the photo of Jill.

"Do you recognize this woman? Have you seen her recently?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. That's the social worker," the neighbor said.

"Social worker?" both Sarah and the mother said.

"Yeah, she came by to my house."

"When?" Sarah asked eagerly.

"Well, it was…it was the day before Cindy disappeared."

Gotcha bitch, Sarah thought triumphantly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Casey stared at the photo of Cindy, the girl that Jill had kidnapped.

"Why would she kidnap a kid along with Bartowski? Has she really gone off the deep end?" he muttered.

"The normal life," Sarah replied.

"Huh?"

"When Chuck and I were on that island, brainwashed into believing that we were married, at one point Jill told Chuck that he was supposed to be paired with her, they were supposed to be a couple instead of him and me. Fulcrum changed it, paired Chuck with me and Jill didn't like it, she didn't like it one bit. She wanted Chuck with her. I'm thinking that she's trying to get that normal life with Chuck, what she wanted on that island."

Casey shook his head. "She actually _wants_ a life with Bartowski? She _has_ gone insane." He handed the photo back to Sarah. Then he looked thoughtful, as if he remembered something. "I wonder," he said.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"When our people studied that brainwashing technology that Fulcrum developed for that island, they found plans for a smaller version of the gizmo. I was told that it looked like a portable version, one that they could transport easily. But the actual machine was never found. Could Jill have that portable brainwashing machine?" he said.

"Well, if she wants it to be like a normal family with Chuck, she would have to somehow brainwash Chuck. And that would certainly enable her to do that," Sarah noted.

Casey nodded. "Good work Walker. So far, we've gotten nowhere. So at this stage, anything will help. Let's get this info out there."

And let's get Chuck home, Sarah added silently.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The day was perfect. The sky was cloudless and bright. The temperature was pleasant. And a nice breeze was always present. The day was perfect, perfect to go outside and do whatever you wanted. And Victoria most definitely wanted to go outside and play.

Chuck used the perfect day, the perfect weather as an excuse for him to take Victoria out to play on the nearby playground. Jill protested, saying that he shouldn't be outside on his own, that he was still too weak, that he might get injured – again. Chuck disagreed, pointing out that he was weak but not helpless, that the playground was a 100 yards or less from their cabin not a hundred miles, that it was within eyesight and that he and Victoria would go there and come straight back and not wander off anywhere else. And he pointed out that Victoria badly wanted to go outside and play.

And to himself, he thought that it would do both him and Jill to be apart for a little while. Jill had _not_ been happy when they got up this morning. While Jill said nothing, Chuck had a feeling that she was upset with him for falling asleep during her love-making attempts. She still seemed upset making Chuck think all the more that it would be a good idea for some space between them for a little while. He tried to come with some other arguments but then Victoria helped.

"Please mommy?" she begged and smiled.

Jill looked at their daughter and then at Chuck. "Can't you two wait until I take care of things? I can't go right now. You know I need to do some work," Jill said.

"And you'll be able to get things done quicker with the two of us gone and not making noise or interfering. Come on, it will be good for us to get out of here and be out of your hair while you work," Chuck said.

"Please mommy?" Victoria begged and smiled again.

Jill sighed. "All right. But you go straight to the playground over there," she ordered as she pointed at the structure in view from the window. "_Nowhere_ _else_. Do not wander off away from there. And when you're done, you come straight back. Understand?"

"Yes dear," Chuck said.

"Any problems and you come back immediately, understand?" Jill ordered.

"Yes dear."

"Victoria, you keep an eye on your father. Any problems, you get him to come back or you come running back here and get me immediately. Understand?"

"Yes dear," the child imitated. Chuck smirked.

"VICTORIA! CHUCK!"

"Come on Victoria. Let's get out of here before we get into any more trouble," Chuck said as he guided the young girl out of the cabin.

The pair slowly walked the distance to the playground. Chuck didn't try to rush or push things. He knew he wasn't walking his normal pace. But at least I'm walking, he thought. Halfway there, he started to tire. By the time they reached the playground which consisted of some benches, picnic tables, a slide, saddle spinners, swingset and little houses with a bridge, he was definitely tired.

Chuck immediately went to one of the benches and sat while Victoria rushed to the playhouses and bridge structure and rushed back and forth in it. It felt good to sit down but he still felt frustrated. When am I going to feel normal?

It angered him that he felt so weak and tired so easily and didn't seem to improve at all. He had gotten so frustrated that he suggested this morning that Jill take him to the doctor and try to find out more. But Jill was insistent that they not do that. Not necessary, not necessary at all, she maintained. They argued about it for a few minutes but Jill wouldn't budge. No doctors!

"Daddy!"

Victoria's call pulled Chuck out of his thoughts. He looked at his daughter. She sat in a swing which did not move.

"Push me?" she asked.

He stood up and walked over to the swing set. He stood behind her, grasped the cables that held her swing, pulled back and let her go. As she sailed forward, he instructed her on how to keep moving, telling her to swing her legs up and then back. After a few times, she got the hang of it and then didn't need Chuck to push her. Chuck moved away and sat down in the swing next to hers and rested as Victoria swung back and forth.

"Daddy?" she said as she swung by.

"Yes honey."

"Who's Sarah?" she asked.

An image of a woman appeared in his mind. A beautiful blonde with blue eyes. It was that woman that he kept seeing in his thoughts. She still looked familiar but Chuck still couldn't figure out why. He shook his head to clear it.

"I give up Victoria, who's Sarah?"

"Daddy!" she whined.

"What?"

"Who's Sarah?" she insisted.

"I don't know," he said. Then he added, "Why do you ask? Where did you hear that name?"

"From you," she said simply as she continued swinging back and forth.

Chuck was puzzled. When did he say that name? He asked the same question to his daughter.

"When you were sleeping this morning. I heard you say 'Sarah,'" Victoria said.

Sarah? he said silently. And once again, the image of that blue-eyed blonde appeared in his mind. Is that Sarah? he wondered. Do I know her?

"Hello," a voice said from behind them.

"WHOA!" Chuck exclaimed, startled. He nearly jumped out of the swing set but stopped himself. Instead, he turned his head to look behind him.

A tall, tanned brunette, in her late 20s, wearing a park ranger uniform looked at Chuck with an amused expression.

"Sorry, I was walking along the trail there and stopped to say hello," she said.

Chuck shook his head. "No, it's all right. I'm sorry. I was deep in thought and off on another planet when you said hello."

The woman still looked amused as she strolled to the swing set next to Chuck and sat down. She stuck out her hand. "Linda Wiley," she said.

Chuck took the hand and shook it. "Chuck Bartowski." He pointed at Victoria, still swinging back and forth. "And that's my daughter, Vicky -- Victoria."

"Hi Victoria," Linda yelled.

"Hi!"

"How old is she?" Linda asked Chuck.

"Uhh…three, three years old."

"The two of you vacationing in the park?" she asked.

"The three of us actually…my wife Jill, me and Victoria," Chuck explained.

Linda glanced around. "Your wife kick the two of you out of the cabin or something?"

"Yeah, 'or something.' She needed to do some work and needed things to be quiet in the cabin. And Victoria was going stir crazy. So the two of us came here to play."

Linda looked puzzled. "Your wife needed to do some work? People come to this park to get away from work and everything else. What would be so important to work on?" she asked.

Such a question had crossed Chuck's mind. But he didn't have an answer. Jill worked in pharmaceuticals and he had no idea what work was keeping her in the cabin.

Linda noticed Chuck's hesitation and apologized. "I'm just being nosy. Bad habit of mine. Sorry. It's none of my business."

"No, no, no," Chuck replied. "It's not that. It's just that I don't know the answer to your question. She didn't tell me what she was working on." And silently, he wondered why. Suspicions filled his mind. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? This is my wife. It's not like she's an enemy spy or anything like that, Chuck chastised himself.

"Daddy?" Victoria called.

"Yes sweetheart," Chuck answered as Victoria drew him out of his thoughts.

"Can you stop me?"

"Sure." He stood up and then lost his balance. He quickly grabbed one of the chains holding up the swing to stop himself from falling. Linda instantly jumped up and grabbed hold of Chuck to steady him.

"Are you OK?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Yeah," Chuck answered and shook his head in frustration. Once steady, he moved over toward Victoria's swing and slowed her down to a stop. Victoria leaped out of the swing and ran toward the slide. Chuck sat back down on the swing.

Linda stood over him, looking at him. "Are you sure you're OK? You seem kind of weak."

"Well, I'm OK. But I am weak," he responded.

He explained about the car accident he had been in a while ago and how he was still weak from it and still on medication. Linda listened to it all. When Chuck finished, she didn't say anything as she looked him over carefully, as if examining him for something. She also looked suspiciously at him, Chuck noticed.

"Are you sure you shouldn't go see the doctor again? Are you sure things are OK?" she said.

"Uhhhh…well, my wife keeps assuring me that the way I feel is normal and…I guess…well, I guess it's normal."

Linda looked closely at him. "How long has it been since you've seen the doctor? Are you sure this is normal?"

"I saw the doctor—" He hesitated. How long had it been since he saw the doctor? he wondered to himself. He tried to remember. Nothing came up. No date, no day. He couldn't even remember being examined by a doctor. Nor did even the name of the doctor come to mind. He shook his head, perplexed by this. And then he noticed that Linda was staring at him intently. He didn't know what to say to her.

"Sorry that I'm being so nosy. I should just mind my own business," she said.

"No, no…it's OK. I just can't…I can't remember anything. That's…that's so strange." He shook his head again.

"Hey, it's OK. Accidents do all sorts of things," Linda said reassuringly as she touched his shoulder. "Don't let my nosiness upset you."

Chuck was about to reply that he didn't think she was being nosy when off in the distance, he heard his and Victoria's names called. He turned his head toward the cabin and could see Jill waving at them.

"Well, I guess we had better get back to the cabin Vick -- Victoria. Mommy is waving for us to come back," Chuck said.

"Can we come back later daddy?" Victoria asked.

"I don't know…."

"Tomorrow?" the young girl pleaded.

Chuck laughed. "We'll try to come back tomorrow. OK Victoria?"

"Yay!" Victoria cheered.

"Now come on Victoria, we have to get back. Mommy is waiting for us," Chuck said as he stood up from the swingset.

The pair said goodbye to the park ranger and walked back to the cabin. He felt a little better but still couldn't walk at a very fast pace. He still had to take things slowly. Linda watched Chuck the whole way. Something doesn't seem right, she thought.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jill stood in front of the cabin by the door waiting for Chuck and Victoria. When the pair got close, Victoria broke into a run and dashed up to Jill who crouched down and hugged the little girl.

"Did you have fun?" Jill asked her. Victoria nodded vigorously. "OK, inside now. You go wash your hands for lunch. I want to talk to daddy."

Victoria ran into the cabin. Chuck saw and heard the whole exchange as he walked up to the cabin. "What's up?" he asked.

Jill stood up and her expression darkened. "Who was that woman?" she asked.

"The woman on the playground with us?"

"Yes, the women you were talking to on the playground."

Chuck shrugged. "Just a park ranger who stopped there to rest."

Jill said nothing. She looked toward the playground, some distance away. She seemed to be studying or assessing something but what exactly, Chuck couldn't determine. After a few moments, she turned back to Chuck and smiled.

"Come on. Lunch is ready. You need to eat and build your strength back up," she said as she looped one arm through his and guided him into the cabin.

**END CHAPTER 3**


	4. Chapter 4 Found & Lost

**CHUCK VS. THE BAD & ABNORMAL & HORRIBLE LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life."

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **Please review! I love to see your comments!

-

**CHAPTER 4 – Found and Lost**

_Sarah climbed through the Morgan door of Chuck's room. She stood still for a moment after entering, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. It was after midnight and Chuck was probably asleep, like everyone else in the apartment. But Sarah didn't care. She wanted to be with Chuck and she wanted to be with Chuck now._

_I hope I haven't pushed you away too far Chuck, Sarah thought, because I want this. I want this more than anything. And I hope you still do._

_Eyes now adjusted to the dark, she moved forward to the bed where Chuck slept and climbed onto it. Chuck rolled over toward her and sat up._

"_Hey you! Nice to have you—SARAH!" He looked shocked. He continued to look shocked as he sputtered words._

"_What are…how did you get in…why, why are…what are you doing…."_

"_Chuck, don't look so shocked. It's just me. Or were you expecting Morgan?" she teased. She reached up with one hand to stroke his hair and face. Then it was her turn to look shocked as he recoiled at her touch._

"_Chuck? Chuck what's wrong?" she questioned. It was like he was scared of her, she thought._

_A voice boomed from behind her._

"_What's wrong is that you're trespassing Sarah. You're trespassing on my property."_

_Sarah turned. At the foot of the bed stood Jill with her arms crossed and a smug, confident look on her face. Sarah turned back to Chuck._

"_What's going on? What is SHE doing here," she angrily demanded. Chuck said nothing. He ignored her and instead looked at Jill. To Sarah's astonishment, he didn't just look at Jill, he looked adoringly and lovingly at Jill._

"_CHUCK!" she yelled, trying to get his attention._

_Chuck didn't even give her a glance. His attention was totally and completely focused on Jill He got out of bed and walked to Jill with his eyes on her the entire way. As he approached, Jill spread her arms to welcome him._

"_CHUCK! NO!" Sarah yelled again. But her words had no effect. Chuck didn't listen nor look her way. He moved right into Jill's arms. Sarah watched in horror as Chuck smiled at Jill and snuggled into her as if he was the happiest man alive. Sarah tried to get off the bed and stop him but she couldn't move. Jill's face turned toward Sarah._

"_Chuck is now mine Sarah. He is all mine, completely and totally," she sneered._

_Sarah struggled to move. Nothing worked. She couldn't move her arms or legs. She couldn't even blink or speak._

"_Chuck is mine!" Jill repeated._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah's head shot up from her bed. As her eyes darted back in forth, searching her room, she reached under the pillow for her gun and jerked it out. The second she did, she realized that what just happened was a nightmare, that it wasn't real.

She let out a gasp, set the gun down and buried her face in her hands. With that, she realized that her face and hair were drenched with sweat.

"Dammit," she muttered.

This was a new one, she thought. Sure, she had nightmares before. They sometimes came with the job. And sure, she had dreams about Chuck before. Ever since she met the guy. Some of them had even made her blush when she thought about them. But this was the first time that she had a nightmare about Chuck. It was unnerving.

"Damn Jill, damn Jill to hell," she swore.

She looked at the clock, the clock that Chuck had given to her at one Christmas. 1:13 am. Not anywhere close to time to get up. It was going to be hard to get back to sleep tonight after that nightmare. In fact, the only way she'd get back to sleep tonight would be if….

"If what?" she asked out loud. But she knew the answer before she asked the question. _If_ Chuck were here. That would be the only way – if Chuck were here to snuggle up against, to hold her, and to comfort her. But he wasn't here. Nor was he at his home. He had been taken, taken by that bitch.

"Damn Jill, damn her to hell," she swore again.

Sarah threw aside the covers and got out of the bed. She started pacing. And not for the first time since Chuck was taken, she thought about how much she missed him. What is it going to take to find him? What is it going to take to get him back? To get him far, far, far away from that bitch? she thought.

She looked at the clock. 1:15 am. It was going to be a long night.

She thought about what she could do to get back to sleep. The answer came to her so quickly that she stopped pacing in surprise. Could she do that? Dare she do that? What would Ellie and Devon think? What would Casey think? Screw it, she thought and walked over to the closet to get some clothes to change into.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After a speedy drive to Chuck's apartment, Sarah parked and then walked through the courtyard, where the Morgan door, the window to Chuck's apartment was. She made no effort to avoid or hide her entrance from Casey's surveillance cameras. She simply walked up to the window and let herself in.

Once inside the room, Sarah felt better. Everything in the room spoke, smelled, and felt like Chuck. She looked at the empty bed. How she wished Chuck was there. She couldn't wait to get him back and start looking for their own place. She climbed onto the bed, lay down, and quickly fell asleep.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

At one of park's sub-stations, ranger Linda Wiley kept thinking about Chuck. The thought that something was wrong with the guy kept nagging at her after seeing and talking with him yesterday afternoon. Linda wasn't sure what could be wrong but the way he acted just bothered her. The guy feels sick and his wife won't take him to a doctor? she asked herself. It had bothered her all of last night and now as she came into work this morning, it still bothered her. But she wasn't sure what she could do, if anything.

She sat down at her desk, logged onto the computer to check her email. Her email's in-box was filled with dozens of new messages including the morning reports and the daily barrage of alerts, bulletins, inquiries and junk. She sighed as she clicked on the first new message.

One alert, three spams, five inquiries, and eight questions later, Linda clicked on the next message. It was a new alert about a missing child. She scrolled down in the message to look at the photo of the kid. And then she nearly fell out of her chair.

It was a photo of Victoria, Chuck's daughter.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Walker!"

Sarah opened her eyes and found Casey leaning in through the Morgan door. Sarah felt a little confused but then remembered where she was. She raised herself up and discovered that a blanket had been placed over her. Ellie, Sarah thought. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to discover that it was almost 10 am.

She looked at Casey and offered no explanation as to what she was doing in Chuck's room. Much to her surprise, Casey didn't make any sarcastic remarks. His face looked unemotional as he told her why he awakened her.

"Come on and get in gear. We've just gotten a sighting of the kid, that little girl that you think Jill kidnapped along with Bartowksi."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Whatever doubts park ranger Linda Wiley had about whether or not Chuck was in trouble or that something was wrong had been quickly erased after she had called in the sighting of that missing girl that was supposedly Chuck's daughter. But the doubts got replaced with puzzlement.

Once she had called the phone number listed on the alert, Linda had been prepared to gather some other park rangers together and go get that child immediately. But she was told firmly by the person she talked to that she, and any other rangers, should not engage in any rescue attempts of the missing child and not even engage in any contact at all. All the authorities wanted them to do was to immediately lock the park down – no one enters and no one leaves – and wait as federal authorities would be there soon.

Just over an hour later, helicopters appeared and flew over the park. Then seconds later, a whole slew of cars came into the park. One of which stopped at the office and two black suits stepped out, and came inside. They flashed federal IDs and announced that the park should remain in lock down until further notice.

What is going on? Linda wondered.

Now she knew for sure now that Chuck and that little girl were in some sort of trouble or danger. But this sure looked like something a lot bigger than a missing child case. Did they send an army to handle this? Linda wondered.

She and the other rangers in the office were kept in the dark as to what was going on. They weren't asked to help, they were told to remain in the office. About 30 minutes later, another car pulled up to the office and a woman in a black suit got out of the car. After conferring with the two agents standing outside, the woman came into the office.

"Linda Wiley?" the woman asked upon entering.

"Right here," Linda said with a wave of her hand.

"I'm NSA agent Marla Sanderson," the woman said while she held up an ID. "In a little while, two other federal agents will be meeting with you. Please help them in any way that you can. Don't hesitate to tell them any and all details, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Any detail could be the most important detail. They'll be with you shortly. Please stay inside and wait for them," Agent Sanderson said.

And with that, she marched away.

The NSA? What _is_ going on? Linda wondered again.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

About 45 minutes later, Linda spotted another car drive up to the office. She looked out the window and saw two people getting out of the car. One was a man. He was dressed in plainclothes, large, muscular, and his face showed no expression at all. He looks like military, Linda thought. She looked at the second person. It was a woman, a blonde woman also dressed in plain clothes. Linda wasn't sure what to make of her.

Agent Sanderson came in with the pair and escorted them straight to Linda. Agent Sanderson didn't make any introductions. Instead, she asked Linda to cooperate fully with these two people and answer any questions they had. Then agent Sanderson asked if there was a private room for this. Linda led the pair into the small conference room, shut the door and they all sat down.

Linda looked at the man and woman. They didn't introduce themselves nor did their faces show any emotion. The man asked the first question.

"We understand that you were the one who spotted this missing girl, Cindy, and called it in?"

Linda nodded.

"Did you see this man with Cindy?" he asked while holding up a photo of Chuck.

She nodded again. "Yeah, that's Chuck, her father. Well, he said he was her father."

"Can you please go over the whole thing from the start to finish, from when you first spotted the them. And please don't leave out any details, anything, no matter how insignificant you think it may be," he said.

Linda told the whole story, beginning with how she had met Chuck and his daughter when she had come upon the playground that they were at, how she had talked with Chuck and how she thought something was wrong or strange.

"What do you mean strange?" the man asked.

"Well, Chuck was acting like he was weak or not all there, like he was tired or not up to full strength," she replied.

"Was he hurt or injured?" the blonde woman asked.

Those were the first words that the woman had said since coming here, Linda realized. And she thought that she detected concern or something else in her tone.

"He moved around very slowly. I asked him if he was OK or if something wrong and he said that he had been in an accident and that he hadn't completely recovered yet and that he was still weak. I thought that was kind of funny because I couldn't see any bruises or scratches or anything like that on him. So I immediately suspected that he was doing drugs or something like that. But then I realized that wasn't it," Linda said.

"How did you know that?" the man asked.

"He didn't seem like the type … he was nice, he … there's no way he could …." Linda paused. She wasn't sure how to explain the instincts or feelings that she had about Chuck, how she couldn't even imagine someone like him doing drugs or anything like that. And she wasn't sure what these two federal agents would say or think if she said something like that about a guy that she had just met, that she didn't really even know. To heck with it, she thought and just blurted out what was on her mind.

"I know I had just met him and talked with him for only a little while. But I could tell right away that he wasn't the type to do drugs or anything like that. He's a nice guy. I could tell that right away. If there hadn't been a wedding ring on his finger, I probably would have asked him out to lunch or dinner or something like that," she said.

If Linda hadn't been looking directly at the woman at that time, she would have missed it. But right after she mentioned the possibility of asking Chuck out, Linda saw the woman's eyes narrow and blaze for just a second. But almost immediately, those eyes reverted back to an unemotional expression.

What the? Linda thought. Did I say something wrong?

"Your instincts are correct. Chuck does _not_ do drugs or anything like that," she said.

The man glared at the woman for a second. "OK, what happened next?"

"We just talked and then he had to go back to the cabin and that was it. But when I left, I just kept thinking that something was wrong. And then when I checked my email, there was that alert for the young girl who was missing," Linda said.

The woman then pulled out another photo and handed it to Linda. Linda stared at a brunette woman in the picture. She didn't recognize the woman and looked up at the pair.

"Did you see this woman with the child or with Chuck?" the woman asked.

"I'm not sure. I only saw Chuck's wife from a distance so I don't know if this was her or not," Linda replied. She had been looking at the woman while talking and could have sworn that the blonde agent flinched at the words "Chuck's wife." But she said nothing and took back the photo. Linda looked at her and then at the man. They don't seem very happy, she noticed. "Are Chuck and Cindy going to be OK?" Linda asked.

Neither one immediately answered. They glanced at each other. Then the woman spoke.

"We don't know. Both Chuck and the young girl were gone by the time we got to the cabin."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"What is it with Bartowski and brunettes?" Casey muttered as he put the car in gear and sped away from the park ranger office.

"What?" Sarah replied, a little surprised at Casey's remark.

"Brunettes! Brunettes!" Casey said. "Come on Walker! You can't tell me that you haven't seen it." He glared at her for a second but Sarah willed her expression not to do or betray anything. Realizing that she wasn't going to respond, Casey continued.

"Remember Lou, that sandwich maker that he dumped you for? Brunette! And Jill, the infamous ex and now kidnapper? Brunette! And this little brunette that we just spoke to. My God, she spends a few minutes with Bartowski and wants to adopt the geek. What is it with him and brunettes?"

Sarah frequently wondered that herself but didn't voice that out loud to Casey. She had suspected for some time that Chuck had some sort of fetish or thing about brunettes. Or they had a thing about him. Lou and Jill certainly confirmed that, she thought. And it always seemed whenever some girl eyed Chuck, it was always a brunette. Like that cheerleader at the restaurant a few months ago. Brunettes! It's always brunettes! Sarah thought disgustedly. She was brought out of her musings when Casey said something.

"What?" she asked when she realized she hadn't heard what he said.

"I said that I don't think you need to worry," Casey muttered.

"Worry about what?"

"What have we been talking about Walker? The brunettes, the brunettes. You don't need to worry about them. The geek is hooked on you," Casey said.

Where was all of this coming from? Did Casey know that she and Chuck had become lovers? He couldn't. She and Chuck had been careful. They had to be because she didn't want to take any chances on anyone separating them, keeping them apart. She decided to play dumb, not volunteer anything.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Come on. As I said, the geek is hooked on you and you are on him."

"Are you fact finding Casey? Are you trying to get a 49-B done on me?"

Casey glared at her. "Walker, you are my partner. And for the record, the best partner I've ever had. And I wouldn't rat on you for a 49-B or any reason."

Sarah thought that Casey sounded sincere. But she still wasn't going to take any chances and express any feelings she had about Chuck out loud. So she said nothing and looked away, gazing out the car window.

"You could do a lot worse than Bartowski you know," Casey said.

Sarah turned to look at Casey. His face was unreadable as he started straight ahead at the road while driving the car. What was going on? Where was this coming from? Once again Casey had actually sounded sincere. Did he actually think that about her and Chuck? she wondered. Still, she couldn't take any chances on asking him. She tried to change the subject.

"She said that Chuck acted weak. Could he be sick? Could Jill be doing something to him," she asked.

"My guess would be she's doing something to him. I found a bunch of pill bottles and medications in the cabin," Casey replied. "I made a list and emailed it to labs. No reply yet. But I recognized some of them. I think they're all tranquilizers and sleeping pills or stuff like that."

Sarah thought for a moment. If Jill had brainwashed Chuck…and she knew how Chuck had beaten the brainwashing during that time on the Fulcrum island…then the drugs may be for….

"Jill's drugging Chuck to try to keep him from resisting and beating the brainwashing like he did on the island," she declared.

Casey nodded. "It makes sense. That would keep him in a weakened state and maybe keep him brainwashed as her loving husband. And I think this confirms that Jill has a portable version of that brainwashing technology and that she used it on Bartowski and the kid."

"We were so close. We almost had Chuck back. Do we have any idea how Jill knew to get out of there before we got here? What alerted her? How did she know we were coming?" Sarah asked.

"Probably just spotting Chuck taking to a park ranger yesterday. Jill saw that, didn't want to take any chances and she flew the coop," Casey said. "We'll just have to keep searching and maybe someone will spot them or maybe Bartowski or someone else will come through for us."

Sarah cursed under her breath. So close. So close to having Chuck back. So close to being with him again. She cursed again.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

With her hands firmly on the steering wheel, Jill glanced to her right, at the passenger next to her. Chuck was out. His head leaned back against the seat as he slept. She glanced in the rearview mirror to check on Victoria in the child's seat in the back. She was slumped forward and, like Chuck, fast asleep.

When she saw that park ranger talking to Chuck yesterday, she knew something was up. And she knew that they had better move on. So she drugged their breakfast this morning. They would both be out for the rest of the day and evening. She had plenty of time, plenty of time. She could get to a new location, a house that she had chosen to hide away in a while ago, put some new memories into the two, hide the machinery and then start over.

Chuck started moving and muttering. Jill looked at him.

"Sarah," he moaned.

Jill cursed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. She shook her head and let out a breath. She had no doubts that Sarah Walker was at the park right now or would be soon looking for Chuck. The woman doesn't give up where Chuck is concerned, Jill thought. But then, neither do I, neither do I.

**END CHAPTER 4**


	5. Chapter 5 Rescued?

**CHUCK VS. THE BAD & ABNORMAL & HORRIBLE LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life."

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE:** A busy schedule and a trip out-of-town may cut into my writing time. So I'm posting this chapter sooner than usual. I hope that's OK with everyone. Please review!

-

**CHAPTER 5 – Rescued?**

_It seemed familiar._

_Chuck looked around. On the floor, on tables, on shelves, in bins – everywhere in the room were all kinds of electronics, computers, accessories and appliances. There were also lots of promotional and advertising signs._

_A store. It was some kind of a store but he was the only one in it. He couldn't see anyone else. No customers, no employees, just him. He was alone._

"_Chuck!"_

_Someone called him. The voice sounded muffled or far off. Chuck looked all around the store looking for whoever called. No one in sight._

"_Chuck!"_

_There it was again, that same voice. Once again it sounded like it was…it was in another room. That's why it sounded muffled or far away. The voice was coming from another room in the store. Chuck looked toward the back. He could see some doors on the far wall. One of the doors looked as if it were glowing, lit up. He walked toward it._

"_Chuck!"_

_The voice called out again as he reached that one door. This time the voice sounded clearer and louder. He could now tell that the voice was female and that it sounded familiar. At least he thought that it sounded familiar. No name or face came to mind when he heard the voice. But it still sounded familiar._

_He opened the door and was bathed in a bright light. He walked through the doowayr and stepped into a hallway. Down a long distance, almost to the end of the hallway, he could see someone standing._

"_Chuck!"_

_The voice was now loud and clear and it came from the direction of where that figure stood. He walked that way. As he got closer to the figure, some sort of feeling of urgency or importance came upon him. He had to do something. He didn't know what but it was important. He quickened his pace._

_He could now clearly see the figure standing there. It was a woman and she was facing the other way, her back to Chuck. But he had no trouble recognizing her. It was his wife Jill._

"_Jill? What's going on? Where are we?" he asked her._

_Jill didn't reply. Not a word, a nod or any sort of acknowledgement to him. She just stood there glaring down the hallway into a room that had its door open. She raised one arm and then Chuck saw that she had a gun. She aimed the gun at the doorway of that room._

"_Jill! What are you doing?" Chuck exclaimed. He looked at the room, where Jill aimed her gun. He saw another woman there. A slim blonde with her back turned to them. She had no idea of the danger that she was in._

_Jill may have had reasons for what she was about to do. But wife or no wife, Chuck just couldn't stand by and let her kill someone. He called out to warn that woman._

"_Hey! Look out! Look out!" he yelled._

_But neither the woman nor Jill acted as if they heard. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let his wife do this. He reached forward to stop her. _

_Too late!_

_Jill pulled the trigger on the gun._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck lunged upward from the bed. In a panic, he quickly looked around, his eyes darting rapidly everywhere in the room. Is that woman OK? Did she…. Wait, it was just a dream…no, a nightmare, it was just a nightmare.

He slid his legs over the side of the bed and leaned his hands on his knees. He felt silly and dumb for overreacting to a nightmare. But it had…had what? he asked himself. You had a nightmare about your wife and some stranger. So what?

Yet something bothered him. He couldn't get that blonde out of his mind. All he saw was her back; he didn't see her face at all. But there was still something familiar about her. What was it?

Hands gripped his shoulders and then stroked down his back. "Are you all right?" Jill asked. She sat up next to him and continued stroking his back, then his arms, head, and hair. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, just a bad dream," he replied.

She leaned against him as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Her embrace did not comfort him. As soon as she had done that, Chuck felt nervous. What was wrong? Why did he feel that way when she held him and touched him?

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jill asked again.

And what exactly would I say? he thought. How do I tell you that I watched you kill someone? He shook his head. "No, I'll be all right," he said out loud. "I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

He moved out of her arms and off of the bed and walked to the bathroom. After shutting the door, he looked at himself in the mirror.

I don't look crazy, he thought. The thought had crossed his mind from the array of images, emotions and feelings that he experienced. Why did I dream about my wife killing someone? Why do I keep seeing that blonde woman? Who is she? Do I know her? Why does it feel wrong when my wife touches me?

No answers came to him. And he had no idea where he could find any answers. He looked at himself again in the mirror and decided again that he didn't look crazy. But that didn't give him much reassurance. He opened the bathroom door, turned out the light and walked back to the bed and got in. Jill immediately snuggled against him, laying her head on his chest and crossing one of her legs over his. Her touch and closeness were still not comforting to him. It felt strange and wrong. He kept wondering why as he lay awake for a long time.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck opened his eyes the next morning and immediately noticed Victoria standing beside the bed staring at him.

"Hi daddy," she whispered.

"Hi sweetheart," Chuck whispered back.

"I'm hungry," she said.

"Me too. What say we do something about that." Chuck slowly and carefully moved out of Jill's grasp, trying not to wake her. She mumbled a little but stayed asleep. Chuck grabbed a robe alongside the bed, put it on and then took Victoria's hand to lead her out to the kitchen. Much to his surprise, walking was easy and he did it without any effort at all. He didn't feel weak or tired as he usually did. In fact, he felt fine. Maybe I'm finally back to normal, he thought.

He searched through the kitchen, found bowls, spoons and cereal. He filled the bowls and set them on the table with the spoons. While Victoria climbed into a chair to sit in front of her cereal, Chuck got milk from the refrigerator. After pouring milk in each bowl, he put the bottle back in the refrigerator and then joined Victoria at the table. They ate in silence and had almost finished when Jill walked into the kitchen.

"Hey you two! What's this? Eating without me?" she greeted.

Victoria smiled. "We were hungry!"

"I can see that," Jill replied as she smiled back at Victoria. Then Jill turned to Chuck. "How are you feeling?"

"Great! In fact, never better!" Chuck exclaimed.

Jill looked surprised. "Oh…th that's great. That's good. I'm…I'm glad." She looked at their empty cereal bowls on the table.

"What? Nothing to drink with your breakfast? You both must be thirsty. Let me get you something to drink."

She dashed to the cabinet and pulled out two glasses. She opened the refrigerator and got out a bottle of milk and a bottle of orange juice. She filled one glass with the milk and the other with the juice. After returning the bottles to the refrigerator, she handed the glass of milk to Victoria. Then she went back to the counter and stood there for a few moments, her back to Chuck and Victoria.

"So, you're feeling better?" she asked Chuck without turning around.

"Yeah, I feel great. Maybe we could go somewhere or do something today out of the house," he replied.

"Now let's not get overconfident and overdo it. Let's just wait and see before we make any plans. OK?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned around, walked up to the table and placed the glass of orange juice in front of Chuck. "Drink up," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Chuck replied. He picked up the glass and took a sip.

"You're welcome. Now drink it all up. I'm sure you're thirsty." She moved around to stand behind Chuck and placed her hands on his shoulders and rubbed them. He knew that she meant to comfort him but once again, her touch felt strange to him. He repressed a shiver. Why am I feeling like this? he thought. What is going on?

"Chuck, drink your juice."

Jill's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He picked up the glass and gulped some of the juice down.

Her hands moved to his head and hair and stroked. "So is eating all you two have been up to? I'm hurt that I wasn't invited," she pouted.

"H Hey," Chuck sputtered as he gulped down the rest of orange juice. "I just thought that you'd like to sleep in a little. You've been run ragged having to take care of both me and Victoria."

"Well thank you. But I really would have enjoyed eating breakfast with my husband and daughter," Jill replied.

"Noted. But seriously, I've felt bad with you having so much to do since I'm not 100 percent. But now that I feel better, I'll help."

"Don't be too sure darling, don't be too sure," she said softly as her hands continued stroking his hair.

It was then that Chuck noticed that his eyelids started to droop and he suddenly realized that he was getting tired. No, no, no, come on, I was feeling better, no, no, no, he thought in frustration.

But there was no fighting it. No matter how hard he tried, weakness and fatigue overcame him. He gripped the side of the table but he knew he was losing the battle. Jill turned her head toward Victoria. "Honey, go get out of your pajamas and get dressed."

Victoria nodded, climbed out of the chair and went to her room. Jill crouched down putting her head on Chuck's shoulder and pressing her face against as she wrapped her arms around his chest. She kissed his neck, cheek and ear and softly spoke to him.

"I'm sorry that you're starting to feel bad again. But it will be OK, it will be OK. I promise Chuck. I promise that it will be OK."

He could only nod slowly as he felt too weak to speak. Her arms tightened around him and she kissed him on the cheek. Then she kissed him passionately on the mouth. As she did, somewhere in the back of his mind, Chuck thought that he could hear someone screaming at him, warning him that he was not all right, that he was in danger.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck opened his eyes and found Jill standing above him. He looked around. He was on the couch in the living room. When did I fall asleep here? he wondered. He turned back to Jill, who stood there with Victoria alongside her.

"We were going to go out for a little while. Will you be OK here?" Jill asked.

"You're going out? Where?" Chuck asked.

"We thought we'd go out for some ice cream. We'll be right back," Jill said. She smiled at him. "How about I get you a drink and then you can relax right here while we're gone."

"No, no, that's OK," he replied. "Ice cream? I'd like some. I'm going with you."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. I think you should stay right here."

"No, no, I know I can't drive. But I can certainly sit in a car and eat ice cream." He stood up from the couch.

"Chuck, I'm not sure that—"

"Jill, please! I'd really like to get out of the house. I'm kind of going stir crazy. And ice cream really sounds good. Come on, let's all go." He smiled and tried to put on a puppy dog look.

Jill frowned as he did that. The frown stayed on for several seconds but then she rolled her eyes and smiled. "All right. But you have to do as I say, OK? I don't want you over-exerting yourself and having a relapse." Chuck nodded.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jill drove the car with Chuck in the front passenger seat and Victoria in a car seat in the back. Chuck was mildly surprised that it was in the afternoon. The last thing he could remember was eating breakfast. And then? I must have fallen asleep after that, he thought. Their house was located out of the city, in a rural area. As she drove down a two lane road, Chuck could see that the houses were spread way apart. There was very little traffic on the road. After a while, they made it into a town. It was definitely not a thriving metropolis. Jill drove a few blocks and then pulled into the parking lot of a retail center with about 10 stores. Chuck glanced at the center and saw a grocery store, a book shop, bakery, pizza place, ice cream parlor and other shops.

Jill parked the car and turned off the engine. She turned to Chuck as Victoria struggled to get out of the car seat. "Now you wait here and Victoria and I will go get the ice cream, OK?"

"Jill, this is silly. I can walk that short distance and then sit in there and eat some ice cream," Chuck protested.

"Chuck, just take it easy. No arguments."

She unbuckled her seat belt, got out of the car and then opened the back door and leaned over to help Victoria get out.

"Come on Jill. I sit in the house all day and we drive out here so that I can sit in the—"

"Chuck! _Stay_ in the car!" Jill commanded.

Her words jolted Chuck. Images of a big serious looking man filled his mind. Then he saw that blonde woman again. They yelled at him. They commanded the same thing over and over again.

"Stay in the car! Stay in the car! Stay in the car! Stay in the car! Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!"

Chuck shook his head. He looked around. Jill and Victoria were almost to the ice cream store. The command to stay in the car kept repeating in his mind. But it wasn't Jill's voice he heard saying that. It was another woman's voice. And as he heard that voice, the urge to get out, to _not_ stay in the car was overwhelming. Is somebody trying to tell me something? he wondered.

He glanced around at his surroundings trying to find some sign or omen of what to do. Nothing. He didn't see any billboards proclaiming "Go for it Chuck!" No images of that big serious looking man giving him the thumbs-up sign. And no blonde waving at him and telling him to get going.

Chuck sighed. Why can't urges or omens or visions come with instruction manuals, he thought. He looked around again hoping to see something that would tell him what to do.

"Stay in the car! Stay in the car! Stay in the car! Stay in the car! Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar!Stayinthecar! "

It wouldn't go away. He kept hearing that in his head. The urge to get out of the car was so strong. Did that mean he should get out of this car right now? He looked around in the retail center and nearby area again. It was just a normal looking retail center with some stores. What should he do?

"In or out Bartowski?" he said out loud.

He finally decided that he had nothing to lose. He undid his seat belt and got out of the car. He looked around and then slowly walked across the parking lot toward the sidewalk in front of the stores. He stepped up onto the sidewalk and was in front of the bakery, which was about four doors down from the ice cream store where Jill and Victoria went. He was about to walk that way when he glanced at the pastries and sweets in the bakery window. He saw rolls, loaves of bread, turnovers, and other delights. And then he spotted chocolate covered croissants.

Suddenly he saw an image of himself walking up to a door and knocking. He was holding a bag in one hand. The door opened and there stood that beautiful blonde woman that he kept seeing in his mind and in his dreams. He walked into her room and they sat down on the edge of the bed and he pulled out chocolate covered croissants from the bag.

The scene stopped and he realized that someone had walked up to the bakery window and now stood beside him, also staring at the pastry display. Chuck glanced at the man's reflection in the window.

"Hey there," the man said.

Chuck turned towards him. The man grinned but continued to stare straight ahead at the window. He did not look back at Chuck.

"Hi," Chuck responded. He looked the man over. Do I know this guy? he wondered.

The man kept smiling but still didn't look his way. It was as if the man was waiting for Chuck to say or do something. What exactly that was, Chuck didn't have a clue. I don't know this guy, do I? he thought. He tried to concentrate and bring up a name or memory that went with the man's face. Something about him seemed familiar but Chuck just couldn't figure out why. He shook his head in frustration.

"Something wrong?" the man asked. Then he looked around. Seeing that no one was nearby, he leaned in closer to Chuck. "Got a job going?" he whispered.

"Huh?" Chuck asked, puzzled.

The man seemed unfazed by Chuck's puzzlement. He glanced around again to make sure no one was within earshot and then whispered another question.

"Are my daughter and the other guy on her team around? You know, the one that looks like a cop?"

Chuck got even more puzzled. What daughter? What guy? "What are you talking about?" he asked the man.

The man took a small step back and studied Chuck intently, as if making sure of something or looking for something. After a few seconds, he shook his head and smiled.

"Sorry! I mistook you for someone else. Sorry about that. My eyes just aren't as good as they used to be." Then he quickly turned and walked away.

Chuck stood there for a few seconds, puzzled. He shook his head and then walked toward the ice cream parlor.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jack Burton's instincts told him that something was wrong, something was _very_ wrong as he sat in the car and watched the trio leave the ice cream parlor and go to their parked car. After walking away from Chuck, or "the schnook" as he often thought of him, that feeling started. It didn't stop as he gazed out the side window of his car and saw the schnook eating some ice cream while walking alongside a young girl and a woman.

And that feeling got even stronger as Burton saw the woman. She looked about Chuck's age and was a brunette. A _very_ attractive brunette. She held onto the little girl with one hand and with her other hand clutched Chuck's arm. Rather possessively clutched onto that arm, Jack noticed. He kept watching them. They looked and acted like a family.

That didn't make any sense to him. When he had last visited his daughter, he had met Chuck. Sarah had said Chuck was her boy friend. Jack couldn't believe it. His daughter had hooked up with this schnook? But then he noticed how his daughter looked at the guy and how protective she was of him. He also noticed how Chuck looked at his daughter. That schnook is head over heels in love with my daughter and vice versa, he thought at the time. It was so easy to see.

And even though he referred to Chuck as a schnook – which drew angry looks from his daughter – Jack liked Chuck. He was a nice guy, smart and able to think and act on a second's notice. When Jack had gotten cornered by the sheik in the hotel, it had been Chuck who got the hotel to page him as Lichtenstein and defuse an explosive situation. And when the sheik had captured Jack and demanded the money back, it had been Chuck who had saved the day. Not Sarah, not that lug named Casey who looked like a cop. But Chuck, driving in on the car with a laptop. And not only was the schnook smart and resourceful but he was devoted to Sarah. He will never betray you, Jack told her his daughter. And he knew that for a fact.

So what the hell is he doing with this woman? Jack mused as he watched Chuck, the brunette and young girl get into their car. Why isn't he with Sarah? I told that schnook to take care of my daughter and he promised me that he would.

They could have broken up and now Chuck had hooked up with someone else, Jack reasoned. Not likely. That schnook was crazy about my daughter and would do anything for her.

Maybe he's working a con on that brunette, Jack theorized. Jack had been careful not say Chuck's name while he talked with him by the bakery just in case of that very possibility. You don't do anything to muck up another con. Especially when there was a possibility that you could get in on it and make a buck. Chuck could be working a con right now. Yet, he didn't know me. He really didn't know me, Jack thought. That wasn't an act.

Jack's instincts still told him that something was wrong or going on. Trust the instincts, he thought as he started the car and waited for the trio's car to leave the parking lot so that he could follow.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Now parked down the road from the house that Chuck, the woman and the little girl had gone into and having watched for a while, Jack was positive that something was wrong. This doesn't look like a con and it doesn't feel like one either. Is the schnook in some kind of trouble? he asked himself. And if he is, so what? It's not my problem.

He sat in the car, pondering a few actions he could take. None seemed likely to get him a few bucks and out of the matter unscathed. Every avenue seemed to have risks and no reward. That's why you shouldn't get involved. "Sorry Charlie, if you're in trouble, you're on your own," Burton muttered out loud. He reached toward the car's ignition, gripped the key and was about to turn it, when an idea struck him.

There was one thing he could do. And it wouldn't hurt him at all. Hell, he might even find out what was going on and maybe he could then get in on the deal, if a deal was in the works. And if a deal wasn't in the works…well, he did owe the schnook. He owed him his life. He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts. He found the phone number for his daughter and punched it. He had changed phones three times since he had last seen Sarah. Hopefully, she hadn't changed hers. After the third ring, he heard her voice.

"Hello?" Sarah said. He could hear some puzzlement in her tone as her phone's readout obviously gave her an "unknown number" ID.

"Did you and the schnook break up?" he asked.

Sarah didn't answer or say anything for a moment. Then she gasped. "Dad?" she asked. Jack was about to confirm that it was indeed him when Sarah suddenly erupted and grilled him.

"Dad, have you seen Chuck? Do you know where Chuck is? Answer me _right_ _now_!"

My God, she sounds absolutely frantic, Jack thought. Something _is_ definitely going on with the schnook.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Do we have confirmation that it's Bartowski and Jill yet?" Casey asked Sarah as she looked through some binoculars at the house.

"I've seen him pass by a window once. It's definitely Chuck," Sarah answered.

"Did he look OK?" Casey asked.

"I think so," Sarah replied. "But it was just a quick look as he walked by, so I couldn't tell for sure."

Casey glanced around. Jill had picked a good hideout. The house was one of a many in a rural area. But there was lots of wide open space, a lot of distance between the houses located in the vicinity, a lot of distance from the main road to the house and not many hiding places for their teams to position themselves for observation before they went in. So each team of two people had commandeered nearby houses. And other teams were positioned down the roads, out of sight, ready to block any getaway car.

So now they were keeping an eye on the house and waiting and hoping that Jill would move away from Chuck, be on one side of the house while Chuck was on the other. They wanted Jill as far away from Chuck as possible before they moved in. Once that maximum distance was established, they would move. It was all just a matter of waiting for the right moment.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Casey kept an eye on Sarah as she looked through the binoculars. Jill, Chuck and the young girl had been sitting in one room for the past hour. They were waiting and hoping that either Chuck or Jill would move out of that room any minute now and give their teams a chance to go in.

"Jill's moving. She just passed by a window. So she is moving."

Casey alerted the other teams with views of other parts of the house. The teams spoke to each other over the coms. Jill kept moving. Then one team confirmed that she was on the other side of the house.

Now! thought Casey. He spoke rapidly into the comm. "Attention all teams. The female subject to be neutralized is on the south side of the house. Repeat, the female subject to be neutralized is on the south side of the house. Go, repeat GO!"

He and Sarah dashed toward the house. They could see the other teams rushing in.

_Hold on Chuck! I'm coming!_ Sarah thought.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The whole operation went perfectly. The teams burst into the house from all directions and within seconds had the place secure. No one was in the room that Sarah and Casey entered. _Chuck! Where was Chuck?_ Sarah thought as she and Casey quickly searched the room before yelling out "Clear!" The "Clear!" call was heard thoughout the place and then followed by a "We have her!" from one team. Sarah lowered her weapon and dashed down the hallway looking for Chuck.

She had taken only three steps when she nearly bumped into the team escorting a handcuffed Jill out of a room. Sarah stopped in her tracks. She and Jill faced each other and stared. Jill's eyes filled with hatred when she realized who was in front of her. Sarah immediately returned the look with equal animosity. The two stayed that way for a few seconds. Finally, one of the agents escorting Jill spoke.

"Ummm…Agent Walker…we need to take her in."

Sarah didn't acknowledge the other agent. Instead, she kept staring directly at Jill and then she spoke to the brunette.

"If you _hurt_ Chuck…."

Jill laughed. "Oh come on Agent Walker. Me hurting Chuck was the least of your worries. Admit it! You were more worried about me doing other things to him, as in the bed—"

WHACK!

_No one_ saw it coming nor could they have prevented it if they had. Sarah had swung her fist and connected dead-on with Jill's jaw.

Jill fell to the floor like a rock dropped from a cliff. The two agents who had been standing by Jill simply stood there, stunned as their mouths gaped open. Even Casey, standing behind Sarah, looked surprised.

Well, that was real professional, Sarah thought. But the truth was that she didn't care about professionalism at all. She didn't care because she had had it. She had had it with Jill, the ex-girl friend, the heartbreaker, the betrayer, the kidnapper, the one who had done all of those things and more to Chuck – _her_ Chuck. And she had had it with Jill or anyone coming between her and Chuck. She and Chuck _were_ going to be together and _nobody_ had better get in the way of that, Sarah vowed.

Sarah ignored Casey and the other agents and stood there with a satisfied expression on her face as she looked down at Jill. Oh, that felt so good, Sarah thought. Jill groaned and shook her head. Before Sarah could do anything more, Casey gripped her arm and pulled. "OK Walker, come on. Bartowski needs you," he said.

_Chuck!_ she thought and moved on down the hallway. She looked into every room but Chuck wasn't there. Finally, at the end of the hallway, in a large room, she found him.

He and the little girl, the one who had been brainwashed into believing she was their daughter, sat on the floor. Toys were scattered around beside them. It looked as if they had been playing together when the raid occurred. The little girl, which Sarah immediately recognized as the kidnapped Cindy, looked frightened as she sat in Chuck's lap. Sarah rushed to Chuck.

"Chuck, are you all right?" she asked as she crouched down beside him on the floor. She slowly reached one hand out and touched his cheek.

His eyes widened and stared intently at her but he didn't speak. He just kept staring at her while the little girl clutched onto him. Sarah felt a little panic rise in her. He didn't recognize her, he didn't know her. She tried to squelch her fears. And his.

"Chuck, it's OK. I know this is confusing to you. I know that I'm a stranger to you. But it will be all right. I promise," she said.

He stared back at her for a moment. He kept looking into her eyes. "Sarah?" he whispered.

She thought for the briefest of moments that there was recognition in his eyes, that somewhere deep down, he knew her. "Yes Chuck, yes. I'm Sarah," she whispered back. She stroked his cheek slowly with her hand.

"Oh my God," he whispered while continuing to stare at her. "You're real."

Sarah wasn't sure what he meant by that. Had he been dreaming about her? Had he had visions of her? In spite of the brainwashing and the drugs, had some memories of her penetrated into his mind? Had his love for her in some way fought past all of that? Those thoughts and speculations warmed Sarah and encouraged her.

"It's going to be all right. I promise you. You're safe and she is safe too," she said with a nod toward the little girl who still clutched onto Chuck. "Neither one of you will be hurt. I promise you." Sarah stood up and addressed the other agents. "Get a car ready now. I want the two of them transported out of here immediately."

"Yes ma'am," one agent said and left to get it done.

Beckman had ordered that Chuck be taken to a secure facility as soon as he was rescued and undergo the treatment to cure him of the brainwashing. Doctors were ready and waiting for Chuck.

"Where are you taking us?" Chuck suddenly demanded. "And what have you done with my wife? Where is my wife?"

Sarah tried to calm him down. She crouched back down to the floor alongside him. "Chuck, I know this is confusing to you and I know you might not understand this. But please listen to me." She took a deep breath, not sure how he would take what she was about to say but mentally braced herself for any reaction.

"Jill is not your wife Chuck." She let the words sink in, gauging him for any reaction. But he said nothing and stared blankly at her. "Chuck, you and this little girl have been…have been drugged into believing all of that. You don't remember any of your real life. But this…this life with Jill isn't real. It's all fake, it's not real, you are not married to Jill…."

He looked incredulously at Sarah, not comprehending, not understanding. He started to say something and then stopped. He turned away from Sarah and looked down at the little girl in his arms. He stared intently at her for a few moments. Sarah bit her bottom lip as she watched him, waiting for him to say something, anything that would tell her what he was thinking, give her some idea of what was going through his head. But he said nothing. He looked confused and lost, she thought.

Then the little girl spoke, breaking the silence.

"Daddy?" she said quietly.

Chuck turned to her. "Yes Vick…Victoria?"

"Is this Sarah?" she asked as she stared at the CIA agent.

Chuck turned his head back to Sarah and studied her intently. "Yeah honey, this is Sarah."

Sarah and the little girl regarded each other for a moment. And then the little girl spoke. "So Sarah is real?" she asked Chuck.

"Yeah, yeah Vick…Victo…Vicky, yeah, Sarah apparently is real," Chuck replied.

Sarah smiled at him. She was about to say something to him when an agent walked into the room.

"Ma'am, an EMS is here and ready to transport these two," he said.

Chuck looked a little leery at that announcement.

"It's OK, it's OK," Sarah assured him. "We're going to take you and Cin…and Vicky to a doctor and get you checked out. It's OK."

"Well, I was in an auto accident a couple of weeks ago and I was injured. So that might be a good idea, "Chuck said.

"No Chuck. You weren't in an accident. You haven't been in any accident. That was a lie. But don't worry about that. All of this will make sense after we get you and Vicky to the doctor. OK?"

He still looked leery as he looked around the room at the other agents. Once again, Sarah felt the frustration at Chuck not knowing her, not knowing who she was. Mentally, she cursed Jill and, for about the thousandth time since she had met Chuck, wished that woman had never been in his life. He finally turned back to Sarah.

"Will…will you be there?" he asked.

"Yes, I'll be with you and Vicky the whole way. I'll be right by you the whole time. I'm not leaving you Chuck," Sarah said.

He nodded, stood up with Vicky in his arms. Sarah gripped one of his arms and started to guide the pair outside to the EMS. But before she could, Casey entered the room. He said nothing but the look on his face told Sarah that something was wrong. Jill! She thought. Did she escape?

Casey motioned for her to follow him. "Wait right here," Sarah said to Chuck. "I'll be right back."

She walked out of the room and followed Casey down the hallway. He stopped halfway down once they were alone and turned toward her. The look on his face, the look that told Sarah something was wrong had not changed.

"What is it? Did Jill escape?" she asked.

"No, no. We got her without any problem. She's already on her way to lockup."

"And?"

Casey took a deep breath and looked away from her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sarah demanded.

He took another breath and then finally turned back to her. "When we loaded Jill into the car, she…." Casey stopped talking and shook his head as if he didn't want to say what he had to say next.

"What is it?" Sarah repeated.

Casey hesitated again. Then finally, after a few seconds, he just blurted it all out.

"Jill said that she is pregnant and that Bartowski is the father."

**END CHAPTER 5**

-

_NOTE: Please review and let's all try to stay calm about that last statement by Casey, OK?_


	6. Chapter 6 Recovery

**CHUCK VS. THE BAD & ABNORMAL & HORRIBLE LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Once again, Chuck wakes up into that normal life he craves so much and it includes a loving wife and daughter and a home. But that life is anything but normal. Sequel to "Chuck Vs. The Good & Normal & Wonderful Life."

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **A big **"THANK YOU!" **to **Agent Chuck** for giving me an idea for one of the scenes in this chapter.

-

**CHAPTER 6 – Recovery**

Sarah walked into the holding cell where Jill waited, seated in one of two chairs in the empty room. Upon seeing the CIA agent, Jill's expression first turned to loathing and then to curiosity. Did you think that Chuck would be visiting? Sarah thought. Dream on bitch!

She walked over to the chair that faced Jill and sat down and eyed the brunette. She didn't look good. Dressed in the orange prison overalls and handcuffed, her face showed weariness and stress. The years in prison had obviously not been kind to Jill. Sarah might have felt sorry for her. But she didn't. Not at all. Jill had done too much to Chuck and her to deserve any pity, sorrow, or sympathy.

"So why are you here Agent Walker? Did you come to gloat?" Jill asked.

Sarah smiled. "No, I didn't come here to gloat. I came here to thank you."

"Thank me?" Jill said with a puzzled look on her face.

"Absolutely. I owe you a lot."

Jill looked even more puzzled. She eyed Sarah skeptically and even looked inquiringly, as if waiting for a punch line to a joke or the solution to a puzzle.

Sarah smiled again. "You don't know what today is, do you Jill?"

The brunette looked puzzled again. Sarah continued. "Three years Jill, three years ago today."

Jill looked thoughtful for a moment. Then a look of understanding appeared on her face. "Oh," she said softly.

Sarah nodded. "Yes, three years ago today, you dropped that bombshell when we captured and arrested you. Three years ago today, you revealed that you were pregnant with Chuck's child."

"And you came here to thank me for that?" Jill said incredulously.

"Actually, yes I did. My life is good Jill. In fact, my life is great. And as I said, I owe it to you." She paused, waiting those words to sink in.

Jill frowned. She started to say something but stopped. She hadn't a clue as to what Sarah was talking about.

Sarah then continued. "I will admit that three years ago, I was horrified and scared when you said that you were pregnant with Chuck's child. And it was mainly because I knew that Chuck wouldn't abandon you or that child. He, being Chuck, would do everything in his power to help you and help that child. That's what scared me -- you, having that hold over Chuck. But Chuck surprised me. He definitely surprised me."

And he had. After Jill had the baby, a beautiful baby girl, he sued for sole and total custody, wanting to raise the baby himself, wanting to get the baby totally and completely away from Jill. And it was no problem convincing a judge that a stable, employed, fine man like Chuck could and should raise a daughter instead of an unbalanced, convicted and imprisoned felon – a felon with a long list of crimes including kidnapping and drugging an adult and child.

Chuck got sole custody, along with court orders against Jill from ever having any contact with the child. And he had been a wonderful father, Sarah thought. He had also left his job at the BuyMore and gone to work for a software company. He was still the intersect and still made time for the missions. And he had also made time for Sarah. Much to her delight, they had gotten even closer and, if possible, fell even more in love. And much to Sarah's surprise, she had developed parenting skills that she never knew she had. They were raising his daughter, Wendy, together.

She could still remember holding Wendy for the first time and easily seeing Chuck's eyes in the young girl. The dark hair on her head appeared, at first, to be from Jill. But as it grew longer, Sarah saw those familiar Bartowski curls that she loved running her hands through. And soon, Wendy, who had her second birthday a few months ago, would officially and legally be her daughter. Yes, life was good, life was indeed good.

Jill looked a little sad. But once again, Sarah felt no pity for her. "So, that's why I am here Jill, to say thank you." Sarah rose from her chair and looked Jill in the eye. "Thank you Jill! Thank you from the bottom of my heart." She turned and walked away.

"Agent Walker!" Jill called.

Sarah turned back to Jill and held up her left hand to display the engagement ring and wedding band. "That's Bartowski, Agent Bartowski," Sarah said with a smile. And then she left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah shook her head to clear her mind. She had zoned out while sitting here in the CIA medical facility with Chuck and Cindy while they waited for the procedure to cure the brainwashing. Where did that fantasy come from? she thought. She knew the answer. Sitting here, watching Chuck and Cindy play while they waited, she had seen Chuck as a father. And it had been so easy to imagine…to imagine what might be.

She glanced up at the clock on the wall, wondering how much longer the doctors would wait. The key to this whole thing was Chuck getting his memories back, Sarah thought for the hundredth time. The CIA doctors claimed they could easily do it and everyone involved was eager to have Chuck back to normal.

But after examining Chuck and the little girl, the doctors decided to wait. It was their assessment that Chuck had been drugged by Jill, just as Sarah and Casey had suspected, and they wanted to wait until the latest round of drugs in him had worn off. They were concerned as to what effect the drugs in his system would have on the preparatory medications that treating the brainwashing required. And all they could do on that, they decided, was to wait until blood tests confirmed that Chuck's system was clear. Then, and only then, would they proceed.

So, Sarah was forced to wait.

To wait on finding out what happened while Jill had Chuck.

To wait on finding out if Chuck would remember her.

To wait on what Sarah hoped would be a nice reunion, a chance to be alone with Chuck.

To wait on Chuck being reunited with his sister and friends.

And to wait on finding out if Chuck knew anything about Jill's pregnancy claim.

Pregnant? Pregnant by Chuck? If Jill was pregnant – and Sarah had serious doubts that she was – then it wasn't Chuck's fault. Chuck wasn't himself, he had been brainwashed into believing that he was Jill's husband. It wasn't his fault, Sarah kept telling herself.

She was convinced that Jill was lying and said so right after Casey told her what Jill claimed.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Jill said that she is pregnant and that Bartowski is the father."

No, no, no, NO…this can't be happening. It wasn't his fault. He wasn't himself. It can't be. They were only together a little more than week. How could Jill have possibly gotten pregnant in so short a time? And how could she know? No, no, no, NO, Sarah thought. She can't possibly be pregnant. It's a trick. It has to be a trick.

"She lying! Chuck has only been with her for a week! How could she be pregnant and how could she know so soon?" Sarah spat.

After a few seconds, Casey nodded. "What you said makes sense, perfect sense. She hasn't been with Bartowski for that long. So how could she possibly know?"

"Let me talk to her. I'll straighten her – this -- out!"

Casey stared warily at her. "I don't think that would be a good idea…especially right now," he said.

"Jill is trying to play us, manipulate us. That's just what she'd do…especially to Chuck," Sarah raged. She was furious and having trouble keeping her voice down. She didn't want Chuck to hear any of this, especially if it turned out to be untrue, which Sarah strongly suspected it was. No telling what Chuck would do or want to do, she thought. Well, she knew what he would do – the right thing. But she didn't trust Jill. She especially didn't trust Jill around or anywhere near Chuck.

"I think you're right Walker. Jill is probably playing us. I'll get some doctors to check her out right away. And not a word of this to anyone until I do," Casey said.

"Agreed. And keep an eye on her. She may be hoping that she'll be transferred to some less secure location for an examination and try to escape."

"I'm on it," Casey said. He started to walk away but Sarah stopped him.

"You did say that she's gone right. They've already taken her away?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's gone, she's on her way to lockup."

"Make sure that they take her to another medical facility. Do _not_ bring her to where we're taking Chuck," Sarah ordered.

"Fine. But why not?"

"I do _not_ want her anywhere near Chuck!" Sarah said and turned away to walk back down the hallway where Chuck and Cindy waited.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah's iPhone buzzed and interrupted her thoughts. She glanced at the screen. Casey was calling. This is it, Sarah thought. She answered the phone.

"Jill is not, repeat, NOT pregnant," Casey immediately said. "You called it Walker. She was lying, trying to pull a fast one or manipulate us or Chuck."

Sarah let out a sigh of relief. Fantasies aside, she had been scared of the possibility of Jill being pregnant with Chuck's child. If it had been true, she knew that Chuck would have done anything to help Jill and his child. And the thought that Chuck would never be rid of Jill truly frightened Sarah. But thankfully Jill was _not_ pregnant. She would _not_ have that hold over Chuck.

"How's Bartowski doing?" Casey asked.

"The doctors don't want to erase the conversion process until they get all of the drugs out of his system. So we're waiting on that," Sarah replied. "I think we're a couple of hours away from that."

"And the girl?"

"They don't want to perform anything on her until Chuck is taken care of and can help with her. So she'll be done after Chuck."

"OK Walker. Beckman will want to know as soon as it's done. So check in after."

"Will do Casey." She hung up the phone.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah gazed at Chuck and Cindy on the floor playing with a game. Their playing stopped as Chuck picked up the little girl and carried her over to the nearby couch. Cindy looked tired. He set her on the couch, sat by her for a moment, watching her as she slowly dozed off. Sarah couldn't help watching him and thinking once again of Chuck as a father. Once Cindy was asleep, Chuck stood up from the couch and noticed Sarah staring at him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Sarah smiled. "No. I was just…just day dreaming," she said.

He walked over to her and sat down on the floor in front of the chair she sat in. He looked up at her, as if studying her.

"Now I guess it's my turn. Is something wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Do we know each other really well? I mean…are we friends? Or are we…well, I mean, are we…." He stopped talking and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling and not making any sense. It's just…."

Sarah leaned forward a little so that she could look directly into his eyes and emphasize what she had to say next. "You can tell me anything. When we first met, I asked you to trust me. You can always trust me."

"Well, I'm just wondering if we're friends or…." He didn't finish the sentence.

"Chuck, you and I are boy friend and girl friend," she said with a bright smile.

Chuck snorted. "You're my girlfriend? No way! I don't believe it!" he said with skeptical look on his face.

"Believe it," Sarah immediately replied.

He shook his head while staring at her, still with that skeptical look on his face. "No way," he repeated. "This just doesn't happen. Me with someone who looks as fantastic and beautiful as you? I don't think so."

Sarah beamed. It always amazed her how a compliment from him could just make her heart soar and make her feel like the most cherished possession. "Have some faith in yourself Chuck," she said. "I feel very lucky and fortunate to have you."

"I don't think so. And besides, if it was true, there's no way I'd forget someone like you."

"You didn't. Not completely. You talked about me with Cindy, uhhh, Victoria, didn't you?" Sarah pointed out.

Chuck started to say something then stopped. He smiled and looked away.

"Didn't you?" Sarah repeated.

He nodded. "I…I had some…." He stopped and then blushed.

"It's OK. Tell me. Please," Sarah urged.

"I…I had some dreams…uhhh…about you."

Sarah leaned down closer to him. "Tell me about them," she asked.

"Uhhhh…maybe…maybe we should talk about something else," he suggested.

She kissed his cheek and smiled at him. "Suit yourself."

Chuck looked a little shocked. Then he shook his head as if to clear it. "OK then…why don't we talk about…well, what should we talk about…maybe we should watch some TV or…." Sarah put a finger to his lips to shush him. "I will find out eventually, you know," she said with a smile. Then she trailed her finger down his chin, neck, chest and stomach and finally stopped at the top of his pants. She tapped her finger there a few times and then arched her eyebrows.

Chuck suddenly found it very difficult to speak.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A few hours later, the doctors pronounced Chuck ready and took him for the procedure. Sarah went with him. There was no way she was letting him out of her sight. The procedure was the same as last time and when it ended, Chuck looked at her from the table he lay on

And just with that one look, Sarah could see Chuck, her Chuck. She reached forward with one hand and stroked his face and his hair. He reached up and grasped that hand and held it. "Not again?" he asked.

"Hey," she said softly as she continued staring at him, keeping her eyes rooted on him. "Welcome back. I've missed you."

Missed? She thought. It had been more like a vital, important part of her body had been ripped out of her. She absolutely could not wait to get him back to the apartment or hotel and just be with him.

"Well, now that I've got my memories back, I know that I missed you," he replied.

The doctors then cured Cindy of the brainwashing and then some agents took her so that she could be returned to her mother. Sarah called Beckman and informed her that Chuck was back to normal. Beckman immediately ordered him to be tested and checked thoroughly. And for the rest of the day, Chuck underwent test after test after test.

Finally, the testing finished late in the evening and they were back in his room. He was exhausted and near to falling asleep as he lay on the bed.

Sarah yawned. Sleep sure seemed like a good idea. Especially sleep with Chuck, she thought as she glanced at him now dozing. She was looking forward to that but first she needed to make a phone call. Truthfully, she didn't want to make this call. Who knew where it might lead or what might result from it in the long run. The man was a master at taking advantage of situations and things. But still, she did owe him.

Sarah pulled out her iPhone, called up the number that he had recently used to call her. The phone rang several times before he answered.

"Hi sweetheart," Jack Burton greeted.

"Hi dad."

Neither one spoke. Both waited for the other to speak first. Finally Burton broke the silence.

"Is the schnook OK?"

"Dad, he is _not_ a schnook. He has a name. Use it," Sarah commanded.

"Sure. Sorry about that. Old habit. He paused for a few seconds and then inquired about "Charlie."

"He's fine dad, he's fine." Sarah started to say something more but hesitated. But she finally decided that she had to say it. After all, the man had saved Chuck's life and helped get him back to her. "He's fine…thanks to you," she finally added.

"No problem. I did owe Charlie you know. He did save my life that time."

"And you remember that the next time you think about calling him a schnook."

"Point taken," Burton replied. "And say…what was going on? What was he doing with that girl? I couldn't believe it when I saw her. I can't, for the life of me, imagine him cheating on you. He wasn't was he?"

"No dad, he wasn't. It's a long complicated story. And honestly, you're better off not knowing," Sarah explained.

"Say no more. I get it."

"Thank you again."

"You take care sweetheart."

"You too dad."

"Oh…one other thing," Burton said.

Here it comes, Sarah thought. He's already going to call in the marker, going to need the return on the favor. She braced herself for what he would request.

"Let me know when the wedding is," he said.

"What?" Sarah asked in shock. She could feel her eyes getting big.

"When you and Charlie get married. Let me know."

"Dad…you're…you're kind of jumping the gun…don't you think?" Sarah sputtered. But images of a wedding between her and Chuck suddenly flooded her mind.

Burton chuckled. "I've seen how he looks at you and how you look at him. So let me know. Bye sweetheart." And then he hung up.

Sarah put her phone down as she gazed at the sleeping Chuck. The images of the wedding wouldn't leave her mind. She yawned as she lay down beside him. She curled up against him and fell asleep in seconds. Her thoughts, as she fell asleep, were still on a wedding between her and Chuck.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Three days later, with things back to normal and Chuck back at work in the BuyMore, Sarah walked into the store for a visit. As was her custom, her habit, her inclination, her obsession, her pleasure – Sarah's eyes immediately went to the Nerd Herd Station in search of Chuck the second she walked through the door. It happened every time she walked in the BuyMore. Sarah admitted to herself that she couldn't help it and that she didn't mind it. She also had to admit to herself that she felt disappointed if she didn't see Chuck there at the station when she immediately looked after walking into the BuyMore. And unfortunately, this was one of the times that she was disappointed.

The station was empty, there wasn't anyone there. Which meant Chuck had probably wandered off to some other part of the store. Sarah's eyes scanned all around and then she spotted him. He and Casey were off to one side, by themselves and they were deep in discussion. Deep, Sarah thought, they appeared to arguing. Both men looked angry and both appeared to be emotionally expressing their side. And Casey kept shaking his head. What is going on? she thought as she headed toward the pair.

The argument continued and then Casey grabbed Chuck by the neck. Sarah's blood boiled and she increased her pace. But Casey quickly let go and Chuck stalked away from the man. He headed toward the Nerd Herd Station. Sarah turned in that direction and he had just gotten behind the counter when she arrived.

Chuck saw her, smiled and greeted her with a "Hey there!" She ignored his greeting and looked him over for signs of injury.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"What?"

"Are you all right?" she repeated.

"And why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

She pointed over to where Casey was. "I saw him grab you and it did not look friendly. What's going on?"

"Oh…that," he replied with a shake of his head and a grin. "That wasn't anything. It probably looked a lot more serious than it was. He and I were just talking and we started trading insults and I just went too far when I called him sugar bear. It was nothing. Don't kill him, OK?"

Sarah looked at Chuck closely. He didn't appear to be lying. But her instincts told her that something was going on, that something just didn't seem right in what he said. But she decided to drop it for now.

"Well…good…I was a little worried there."

"Nothing to worry about, no biggie," he insisted.

"Good." Then she smiled. "I just came over to check on our plans for tonight."

"Tonight?" he said with a blank look.

"Dinner with Ellie and Devon. You didn't forget, did you?"

"Oh crap," he said as he did a head and eye roll. Then he shook his head with disgust and sighed. "I did forget. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to skip out on that tonight. Something came up and I need to tend to it."

Sarah was shocked. It was not like Chuck to forget about a dinner with his sister. Even more unlikely for him to forget about a dinner with me, she thought. Something _was_ up.

"What's going on? What do you have to do?" she asked.

"It's something that I need to take care of and I can't put it off. It has to be done and…look, I need to take care of this and I'll explain it all later, OK?"

"Chuck, it is my job to protect you and keep you safe and alive," she said firmly. "You cannot just sneak off to anywhere at any time. And besides…." She leaned forward and whispered what she had to say next. "….I _want_ to be with you."

"I'm not sneaking off. And besides, Casey is going with me," he said with a nod towards the man. Sarah turned her head and saw Casey a few rows over. He was looking at them and no doubt had been looking at them the whole time.

"It will be OK. Please…just let me do this and I promise you that I'll explain it all later. OK?" He was almost pleading, she realized. What is going on? She looked at him for a few moments. He kept looking at her with that pleading look. "OK," she agreed softly. "But I'm keeping you to that promise to explain it all soon – NOT later, soon!"

"Easy," he said. Then he smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him. And he responded back. And just for a moment, Sarah forgot her concerns about what had just transpired. Their lips parted and she stroked his cheek. Chuck smiled and then she gripped his cheek tightly.

"Full. Disclosure. Soon. Right?" she emphasized.

"Uh, huh," Chuck managed to squeak out.

"I'll be waiting," she said and then turned and walked away. But she didn't leave the BuyMore. Instead, she walked toward Casey. His face remained expressionless as she approached. And he said nothing when she arrived.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"What?"

"The argument that you and Chuck had and your attempt to strangle him."

"It wasn't an argument, just a…discussion that got a little heated. And the geek made the mistake of calling me something I told him _never_ to call me," Casey replied pointedly.

Well, their stories matched on that, she thought, now to find out about the other part.

"So where are the two of you going tonight?" she demanded.

Casey said nothing and glared at her for a moment. "Bartowski needs to take care of something and I said I'd go along with him," he finally admitted.

"How kind of you. Where are the two of you going tonight?"

"It's…just something that he needs to take care of and…it's something that has to be done and we'll explain later, OK?" Casey said.

Sarah looked at him critically. Interesting, she thought, their explanations of what they needed to do matched almost exactly. As if they coordinated on that. What is going on?

"You realize I can tail the two of you and you'd never know it," she said with a determined look on her face. And for just the briefest of moments, alarm or panic appeared on Casey's face. But as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. Then his expression relaxed a little.

"Walker, you need to leave this alone, OK? It will be explained afterwards. I need you to back off on this, just this once. OK?"

He was almost pleading, Sarah realized. What is going on here? She wondered. The two of them stayed silent for a moment glaring at each other.

"Fine," Sarah said bitterly. "But I expect everything to be explained and _explained soon_."

"Deal," Casey replied.

Sarah turned and walked away. She took two steps, stopped, and turned back to Casey.

"I don't know what you two are up to but if Chuck gets hurt in any way from this…." She didn't need to finish for Casey to know what would happen to him if Chuck got injured.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah didn't like the situation as she drove away from the BuyMore. She didn't like being kept in the dark. She especially didn't like being kept in the dark about Chuck. Casey was her partner in this work and at times he did things like this. That was just Casey, she had learned. But Chuck – Chuck did not do things like this.

Her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Ellie was calling. Sarah answered.

"Sarah, did Chuck say anything to you about not making our dinner tonight?" Ellie asked.

"I just found out a little while ago Ellie," Sarah replied.

"Did he explain why?"

"Just that something came up and that he couldn't make it. He said that he'd have to explain everything later."

Ellie sighed. "That's what he told me too. He was really evasive and I'm not sure what to think. Are the two of you having problems? Did something happen between you two?"

"No, no Ellie. We're fine," Sarah insisted.

"Well, I'm a little worried because Chuck knows that I was doing a lot of cooking and planning for this dinner. And for him to cancel on this and not to really explain why to either one of us…."

Time for some damage control, Sarah thought. "I'm in the dark on this too Ellie. But I know Chuck and so do you. He would rather do anything than intentionally hurt either one of us. He told me that he would have to explain it all later. He wouldn't do something like that unless it was necessary or important. So I think we should cut him some slack."

Ellie was quiet for a moment. "You're right Sarah, you're right." She sighed again. "Well, I hope you are still coming over. I have all of this good food just waiting to be eaten."

Sarah thought for a moment. Dinner with Ellie and Devon would certainly be better than sitting at her hotel alone and thinking about and waiting for Chuck. "I'm on the way Ellie."

"Great! See you in a few!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ellie's food was fabulous. It was one of the best meals Sarah had ever had and she said so to Ellie who beamed and thanked her. The only thing marring the dinner, making it less than perfect, was Chuck's absence. It was silly of her to act this way, Sarah told herself. He had been gone for only a couple of hours and she acted like it had been weeks.

"You're thinking about Chuck, aren't you?"

Ellie's statement startled Sarah out of her thoughts. She turned toward the older Bartowski and found Ellie smiling.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"I can always tell when you're thinking about Chuck. You get this look on your face along with this certain smile. And I just saw you doing both just now. You're thinking about him," Ellie teased.

Sarah was about to say something, she wasn't sure what, but the sounds of the front door being unlocked and then opened startled everyone. Sarah's head immediately turned toward the entrance looking for Chuck.

And Chuck did walk in. Sarah studied him. He looked upset or concerned. What's wrong? she thought.

He shut and locked the door, looked up and instantly stopped at seeing all three of them at the dining room table. "Sarah?" he said. "Oh…I didn't think you'd be here. I—"

"Chuck! We had a dinner planned and Sarah was invited. _Remember_?" Ellie scolded.

"I know, I was just surprised, that's all. I—"

"Where have you been? What was so important that you skipped this dinner, this dinner that I have been planning for a while," Ellie demanded.

Chuck didn't say anything. He looked down at his shoes as if trying to think of something to say. Sarah realized that she had seen Chuck behave this way before. He did this when – when he was trying to avoid saying something unpleasant or actually thinking of lying, she thought.

"I…I had…had an errand to run," he finally stammered.

"And it couldn't wait? You had to skip our dinner just to run an errand?" Ellie asked.

"Uhh…well…it had to be done…it couldn't wait." Sarah noticed that he still stammered and still avoiding looking directly at her and Ellie. He was with Casey, Sarah thought, maybe he can't say anything. She stood up from the table.

"Ellie, I'd like to talk to Chuck alone for a moment," she said.

Ellie looked at Sarah and started to say something. But then she stopped. "Of course," she said.

Sarah walked over to Chuck, took his hand and walked him back to his room. He came willingly but still avoided looking at her. After entering his room, Sarah shut the door and then turned to him.

"How about you tell me what's going on and then we deal with Ellie together," she suggested.

Chuck still avoided looking at her, suddenly finding his shoes fascinating. He stayed silent for a few moments. Then he sighed.

"I…I went to see Jill today," he said.

"WHAT?"

She glared at him, furious at this revelation. How could he? How could he do this? How could he do this to me? After all Jill has done to him? After all Jill has done to me? How could he do this? How? she thought furiously.

He finally looked directly at her. "Sarah, please, just let me explain," he said softly.

"Save it!" she spat.

She turned away from him, opened the door and stalked out. She heard him cry out her name, but she slammed the door and raced down the hallway and into the living area of the apartment.

Both Ellie and Devon were standing up at the dining room table with looks of concern on their faces. One look at Sarah and Ellie immediately spoke.

"Sarah? Sarah what's wrong? What happened?"

"I'm sorry Ellie, I have to leave!" Sarah said and rushed out of the apartment.

She had made it halfway to her car when she heard her name called. Thinking it was Chuck, her first inclination was to ignore it. But when she realized that it was Casey calling her, she turned.

Casey stood in his doorway and waved her over. "Get in here. We're needed," he said.

Great, Sarah fumed, Beckman just has to have a conference right now. Sarah walked to Casey's apartment. Upon entering the place, she saw that the monitor was off. She glared at him.

"I thought we were needed for a conference with Beckman," she said.

"You need to know what's going on, why Bartowski did what he did. And making you think that Beckman wanted us was the easiest way to get you in here," he replied.

"And just what is going on?" she said with a malevolent glare at the NSA agent.

Casey frowned and crossed his arms. "Look, Bartowski didn't want to visit Jill. That was the last thing in the world that he wanted to do. But he didn't have any choice. Beckman ordered him to and ordered me to make sure he did."

Sarah gasped. "Casey, what is going on?"

"Remember our talking about how there was a possibility of there being a portable version of the brainwashing machine? Well, as we suspected, Jill had it and she used it on Bartowski and that kid. Both the NSA and the CIA wanted that technology bad. So bad that they were willing to make a deal with Jill. And part of the deal was that she wanted to see Bartowski."

Casey paused to let the words sink in. Then he continued.

"Bartowski absolutely, positively did _not_ want to see Jill. He told Beckman that. And he was pretty adamant about it. But Beckman read him the riot act and ordered him to do it. The geek didn't have any choice. He had to go see the bitch."

"Chuck could have told me that," Sarah said.

"That was my doing," Casey replied. "He wanted to tell you but I persuaded him not to. Remember seeing the geek and me argue this afternoon in the BuyMore? That's what we were arguing about. I didn't want you knowing that he had to go see Jill."

"Why?" Sarah snapped.

"He needed his head in the game for this. You know what Jill is like, you know how she can manipulate him. He needed to be fully focused for this and he wouldn't be able to do that if you were there fuming and fussing at him on the sidelines and overreacting with your panties all in a knot about your boy toy seeing his ex," Casey said.

"I would not have overreacted. I would have helped," Sarah argued.

"Just like you're not overreacting now? Just like you're helping now?" Casey pointed out.

Sarah stood there silently as Casey's words sank in and made their point.

"Cut Bartowski some slack, OK? He didn't have any choice in the matter," Casey added.

Sarah stayed silent. Then she turned to go. When she got to the door and grasped the door knob, she stopped and turned back to Casey. "Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome." He started intently at her and then added, "I still think you could do a lot worse than Bartowski."

Sarah smiled, turned back to the door and turned the knob.

"Walker," Casey said. Sarah looked back at the NSA agent.

"I'm having trouble with the surveillance equipment in their apartment. It's not working. So maybe you should spend the night there and keep an eye on him," he said.

"Thank you," Sarah said softly again. She opened the door and left. Once outside, she headed directly for the Morgan door. And as she walked over there, she wondered what had happened when Chuck had visited Jill.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Chuck walked into the holding facility. There wasn't much to it. The room was empty for the most part. Empty except for two chairs. And in one of those chairs sat Jill. Chuck stared at her. She hung her head down, not bothering to glance up. Her hands were handcuffed in front of her and each ankle was chained to a chair leg._

"_Quit gawking and get moving Bartowski! You have a job to do!" Casey's voice yelled in the ear wig that Chuck had on._

_He walked forward, moving toward the empty chair in front of Jill. Jill looked up._

"_Chuck!" she exclaimed. And she smiled. She motioned to the empty chair in front of her with her head. "Sit down and let's talk. We really need to talk."_

"_Bartowski, you don't do anything until she gives us the location of that portable brainwashing unit. That was the deal. You know the drill, I went over it with you. Get that location first," Casey yelled in the ear wig._

_Chuck looked at Jill. "Ummm…I need some info from you first…you're supposed to tell me—" Chuck stammered._

"_Oh, of course Chuck," Jill replied with a smile. And then she gave him an address._

"_OK Bartowski, leave now!" Casey ordered._

_Chuck turned to go._

"_Chuck!" Jill cried. "Where are you going? We're supposed to talk."_

"_And we will. As soon as they give me confirmation that they have that portable unit. They're sending a team out there right now. And they'll check in and let me know when they have it. Then we can talk."_

_He turned away but Jill called him to wait. He looked back at her. She returned his look for a few moments. "OK then. You better call them up and tell them to go to this address instead," she said. Then she gave Chuck another, different address._

"_I knew it. I knew she'd try something like that. I'll get this new address to the team. Walk away now Bartowksi," Casey said into the earwig._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_It took about 30 minutes for the team to check in with Casey and confirm that they had the portable brainwashing machine. Once that was done, Casey sent Chuck back into the holding cell to talk with Jill per the deal she had made. But not before the NSA agent cautioned him to not make any more deals with the girl. "You just talk and nothing more," he ordered._

_Chuck walked back in. The second he stepped through the door, Jill looked up at him. She smiled as she waited for him to sit down in the chair in front of her._

"_Took them long enough. You shouldn't keep a girl waiting Chuck," Jill said._

"_Well, they needed to make sure they had the right unit and that it wasn't a fake and that it worked and—"_

"_Chuck!" Jill cried. "You're rambling! Just relax. It's not like I can do anything to you, you know." She held up her hands to show that she was handcuffed and jerked forward her legs to emphasize the chains that held her feet to the chair and immobilized her. He winced. This was certainly different from their Stanford days. She definitely wasn't the same girl that he knew then._

_She studied his face for a moment. And then she spoke._

"_What is it Chuck? What's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?"_

"_Jill, you do realize where we're at, don't you? It's not like we're at a restaurant or at home having this conversation," Chuck replied._

"_Yes, I know that. I know that all too well," she said._

"_Jill, why did you want to see me? What do you want?" Chuck blurted out._

"_Maybe I wanted to see if we still had a chance, to see if you'd wait for me."_

"_Jill, you know that we didn't have any chance. Any chance we had was long gone, way long gone before you kidnapped and brainwashed me."_

_She looked sadly at him. For a moment, Chuck thought she was going to burst into tears. "You're wrong Chuck. I did that for you, for me, for us. I—"_

"_There wasn't an 'us' Jill. There wasn't an 'us' when we got back together that last time. You were just using me to help Fulcrum. There wasn't an 'us' on that island. And there wasn't an 'us' this past time. And I'm beginning to wonder if there was even an 'us' when we were at Stanford," Chuck said._

"_Chuck, I have always loved you. It's just that Sarah came between us. She—"_

"_Sarah had nothing to do with us Jill," Chuck said._

"_That's not true Chuck, and you know it." Once again she looked as if she was going to cry as she stared at him. For several moments, she just gazed at him. Chuck didn't know what to say or do. When Jill finally spoke, it was almost in a whisper._

"_You love her, don't you Chuck?"_

_He did love Sarah but he didn't dare say that with Casey listening in. "As I said, Sarah is not the issue as far as you and I are concerned," he replied._

"_That's not true and you know it Chuck," Jill said as a tear ran down the front of her face. "If it hadn't been for her, we'd be together, we'd be happy. You don't need her Chuck. She's not good for you. I'm better, you should be with me, I'm much better—"_

"_Don't, don't even think about comparing yourself to Sarah. You can't even begin to compare to her," he said firmly. "And you think Sarah was the problem between us? You were the one who broke up with me at Stanford, remember? Exactly how did Sarah come between us then Jill? You were the one who used me to help Fulcrum when I got back together with you, remember? Did Sarah cause you to do that? You got what you wanted both of those times, remember? And what you wanted wasn't me."_

"_I made a mistake Chuck and I wanted to change that. I wanted you back. That's why I took you. So that we could be together, just you and me and no Sarah to come between us," Jill sobbed._

_Chuck looked at the crying woman. Once this may have had a greater effect on him. He had no doubts of how she could have once manipulated him with an act like this. But now it all seemed to him to be just that – an act._

"_If it was about me and getting back with me, then why did you kidnap that young girl to pose as our daughter? Why did you kidnap her?" Chuck demanded._

_Jill made no response. She just looked sadly at him._

"_What if she had some allergies or some sort of special needs? What if she was allergic to penicillin and she had gotten injured and we took her to a hospital and the doctors gave her a penicillin shot? What if she was allergic to peanut butter or mustard and we had fed her those things? We could have killed her! We could have killed a little girl! Were you thinking of me then Jill?"_

_Jill still stayed silent._

"_If you truly wanted an us, you would have never broken up with me back at Stanford. You would have stayed with me."_

_Chuck watched as more tears flowed from her eyes and she bowed her head. Chuck waited for a few moments, waited for anything else she had to say. But she said nothing. He stood up to go._

_Jill's head snapped up and she looked at him, pleading. "Chuck?"_

_He stared back directly into her eyes. "I'm sorry Jill. It's over. It was over between us a long time ago. I know that now," he said._

_Then, without hesitation or regret, Chuck turned and walked out of the room without looking back._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As Sarah strolled up to the Morgan Door, she could hear Ellie raging at Chuck in his bedroom. She was furious and yelling full blast and full speed at Chuck.

Sarah opened the Morgan Door and stepped in. Her entrance surprised both Chuck and Ellie and even silenced Ellie. And before she could start up again, Sarah spoke.

"Ellie, it wasn't Chuck's fault."

"Sarah, don't defend him. He told me where he was today. He was—"

"Ellie, please listen. It wasn't Chuck's fault. He was trying to help," Sarah interjected.

That silenced the older Bartowski and Sarah quickly explained.

"Remember that police officer friend of mine? The one I sent the photo to?" Ellie nodded.

"Well, I talked to him. He told me that Jill was holding out information and other things and wouldn't tell them. So they asked Chuck to see her and try to get her to come clean. Chuck did and was a big help, my friend told me. That's why he went to see Jill, to help the police in wrapping up this case. The police are really grateful," Sarah said.

Ellie's angry expression had calmed considerably. She stood there, turning her head back and forth from Chuck to Sarah, to Sarah to Chuck.

"Ellie, I think we owe Chuck an apology," Sarah suggested.

Ellie looked slightly embarrassed as she turned back to Chuck, who had stayed silent the whole time. She gazed at her brother. "You're right," she said. "Chuck, I'm sorry. I…I should have given you a chance to explain. I'm sorry."

Chuck didn't say anything. He just put his arms around his sister and hugged her. They embraced each other for a few seconds and then parted. Ellie patted his head and then with one hand on his shoulder, directed him toward Sarah. "I'll leave you two alone. I think you two have some talking to do," she said. Then she left the room.

Sarah moved forward and hugged him. "I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear. Chuck pulled his head back and stared intently at her. "I don't blame you for reacting the way you did. I wanted to tell you but—"

She put a finger to his lips and shushed him. "Casey explained to me what happened and what went on," she said.

"Well I'm still sorry," he said.

He started to say something more but Sarah shushed him again with a finger to his lips. Then she tightly wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled him in and kissed him hungrily. He eagerly responded. As the kiss deepened, she could feel his hands clutch the bottom part of her blouse, pull up slightly and then his hands slid inside and stroked her bare back. His touch was wonderful. She kissed him back with more passion and quickly moved her hands to the front of his shirt and undid buttons. Things just seemed to be moving too slowly. She couldn't take it any more. She broke the kiss, grasped him by the shoulders and shoved him onto the bed, on his back.

As he lay there, looking inquiringly at her, she rushed to the door and locked it and turned off the light. Then she went to the Morgan Door and shut it, locked it and lowered and closed the blinds. Then she was on the bed and straddling him. She pulled her blouse up and over her head and leaned down and captured his lips with hers again. They kissed for a long time and then she kissed his cheeks. "Too many clothes," she moaned. And as she started again on his shirt buttons, she felt his hands reach around her back and grasp the clasp of her bra.

"Too many clothes," she moaned again.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck opened his eyes and looked to his side. It was morning and he was alone in bed. Disappointing as he hoped to wake up with Sarah next to him. He glanced at the clock. 8:03 AM. Had Sarah left? he wondered.

He got out of the bed, pulled on some jeans and then a T-shirt. He opened his bedroom door and went out into apartment hallway. After a few steps, he could hear voices from the kitchen. He looked and saw Sarah and Ellie. They were both smiling and engaged in conversation. Chuck stayed back, studying the scene of the two people he loved most in the world.

Ellie was at the counter, mixing or stirring something. Sarah was at the coffee pot, pouring two mugs of coffee. She handed one to Ellie and took one for herself while they talked. Chuck couldn't help smiling.

"Beautiful site. Isn't it just totally awesome bro'?" Devon's voice said from behind him.

"Yes," Chuck agreed as he turned back to look at Devon. "And normal, wonderfully normal."

Devon looked puzzled. "Oookkaaayyy," he replied. He shook his head. "Well, whatever makes you happy Chuckmeister." He headed toward the kitchen to join the ladies. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"No. I'm going to hit the showers first," Chuck said and headed to the bathroom.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Warm water sprayed onto him as Chuck poured some shampoo into his hand and he applied it into his hair. The shampoo foamed as he massaged his scalp. He was just about to rinse out the shampoo when arms wrapped around him and a naked body pressed against his back.

He might have fallen in surprise had not those arms maintained a firm grip on him. As soon as he steadied himself, lips pressed against his ear. "Good morning!" Sarah greeted as her hands rubbed the front of his chest. Her lips kissed his ear, his face and his neck. Sarah's lips continued their assault as her hands traveled all over his chest. Chuck could hear her panting a little and then her hands moved downward. "Glad that you're finally up this morning," she moaned.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"I see that you finally managed to get up," Ellie said to Chuck as he and Sarah sat down at the dining room table for breakfast.

Sarah stifled a smirk as Chuck blushed. Under the table, Sarah's hand crept over to his thigh and squeezed. "Yes, I managed to get him up," she said. Chuck blushed again as he gave Sarah a look. She smiled at him.

"Well Chuck I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to get up," Ellie said. Chuck's hand, holding a spoon full of cereal which was on its way to his mouth, came to a halt. He quickly turned toward Sarah with a look of warning on his face. Sarah simply smiled back. With her hand still on his thigh under the table, she squeezed and calmly replied to Elle, "I didn't have any trouble getting him up. In fact, I'd love to get him up every morning."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Ellie enthused.

Chuck dropped both his jaw and his spoon. "Ellie! Sarah!" he exclaimed.

Sarah looked innocently at Chuck. "What sweetie? What would be wrong with me getting you up every morning?" Her hand, still under the table and still on his thigh, stroked.

"Yes Chuck, what would be wrong with that? I think that would be wonderful?"

ELLIE!"

"Well, what would be so terrible about you guys moving in together? You obviously love each other. What would be so wrong with making the arrangement a permanent thing?" Ellie asked.

"Oh…that's what you were…." Chuck muttered.

Ellie looked puzzled. "What did you think I was talking about?"

By now, the area of Chuck's body under the table that Sarah stroked had expanded and Chuck was having a difficult time concentrating, much less talking. Sarah continued her stroking as she looked directly at him still with that innocent expression on her face. "Yes sweetie, what did you think Ellie was talking about?"

Chuck groaned and stared down at his bowl of cereal.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They had finished breakfast and were now in his room. He wanted to check his email and Sarah lay on the bed watching him and waiting. "No briefing, no mission today. We have the day off and we're going to spend it together," she said with a smile.

Chuck looked skeptically at her. "We have the day off Chuck," Sarah confirmed. "And we're going to spend it together and do normal. Would you like to do normal with me?"

He grinned. Then he shut off the computer, stood up and walked over to her. Sarah sat up, spread her arms and pulled him onto the bed beside her and kissed him. She had really missed him while he was gone. She had missed being able to see him, to talk to him, to touch, to hold him – everything, she had missed everything. And now that she had him back and they had a day to themselves, she wanted to spend it with him and only him.

But before they did that, she needed to do something. She feared that it might ruin the moment but they needed to slay this Jill monster for good. Reluctantly, slowly, she pulled back from him, breaking the kiss.

One look and Chuck knew something bothered her.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No…well…yes…well…."

His expression turned serious. He pulled her closer against him. "What is it? Tell me"

Well…it's…." It was hard for to open up, to express her feelings. Having been an agent for so long and having been trained and taught to suppress feelings, she had always found it difficult to talk from the heart, to express her feelings, to say what was really and truly on her mind. Yet, she wanted to do that with Chuck.

She looked up at him. "There's something that has been bothering me for a while. I found out about it while you were gone. Part of me thinks it's silly for it to bother me but…."

"What is it?" Chuck asked.

Sarah got up, walked over to his desk and opened the bottom drawer. She reached in and pulled out the framed photograph of Chuck and Jill.

"Oh," Chuck said when he saw the photo. "You found that?"

"I wasn't snooping. It was right after you were taken. I was here, recovering in your room and…well, without going into a lot of details, I needed a photo of Jill. I asked Ellie and she pulled out this…this photo."

Sarah looked at the photo again of Chuck in a tuxedo and Jill in an elegant green dress, looking happy. Then she looked at Chuck. "Chuck, after all that Jill has done to you and to me, how could you keep this?" Sarah could feel the hatred and bitterness that she had for Jill welling up inside her.

Chuck looked down at the photo for a moment. Then he looked back at Sarah. "Well, honestly, I forgot that I had it. But it means nothing, you know. I don't love her. You know that, don't you?"

"If it means nothing and you don't love her, why are you keeping this?" Sarah asked.

He didn't answer immediately. He seemed to think carefully over what he had to say.

"Sarah, I met and knew Jill and was in love with her – emphasis on _'was'_ there – back in college, way back before I met you. That was the past and that photo is a keepsake of that past."

"I know that Chuck. But still, this is…."

He stopped her. "And you don't keep any photos or souvenirs of your past relationships? You don't have any photos of Bryce?" he asked. He pointed at her iPhone. "What if I took a look at the photos on that? I wouldn't find any photos of Bryce?"

Sarah said nothing. She did have photos of Bryce from some trips the two of them took together, when they were a couple, before she met Chuck. But dammit, that was different, she thought. And she said so out loud.

"Are you still with Bryce? Are you still in love with Bryce?"

"NO! Absolutely not! I'm in love with you," Sarah immediately replied.

"Then why do you have photos of him?"

"Chuck, that is different. Bryce didn't try to kill you like Jill tried to kill me."

"While I agree that it is different, we both have our pasts. I have former girl friends and I'm sure you have former boy friends. But they are the past. Whatever relationships I had, whatever relationships you had are in the past. And we both have our keepsakes and memories of the better days of those pasts. But they are still the past. But you're here now and I love you now. So you shouldn't be concerned about any of my former girl friends," he said.

Sarah got quiet. He did have a point, she thought. We shouldn't—wait a minute, what did he say?

"Chuck, how many ex girl friends do you have?" she asked with a glare.

He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and chuckled. "You know, it's kind of interesting to be on the other end of the jealously problem for a change," he said as he moved toward her, wrapped his arms around her, drew her in close and started kissing her neck.

"Chuck, I asked you a question," Sarah said. She tried to sound firm and commanding but it was getting hard to concentrate as his lips traveled up and down her neck. They felt so good and she had to clamp down hard with her teeth to prevent him from hearing the moan that almost escaped from her mouth. Then his hands started stroking her hair and her back. She tried to command her own hands to grab them and get them to stop. But somehow, as if they had a will of their own, they ended up on his back and his hair. She started to lean back, to give him more access to her neck, get him to kiss her there more.

But when she realized that he still hadn't answered her question, she tried to stop herself and him.

"Chuck…answer my…my…my…Chuck…you haven't told…told me…Chuck…." She had to shut her mouth. It was getting hard to do anything more than pant and moan. And she didn't want him to hear that. She wanted him to answer, to answer….Now it was getting too hard to even concentrate on what she originally wanted to do.

"What do you say that we just let the past be the past?" he asked as he continued kissing her.

With the last bit of will power she possessed, Sarah shoved him back to stop him for the moment – but just for the moment.

"Agreed! But on one condition," she said with a smile.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah reached over to Chuck's head and straightened a few errant curls.

"Sarah, how many times are you going to do that?" Chuck asked. "We haven't even gotten inside for the session yet."

"I just want things to be perfect for this. It's our first time for this and I want things to be perfect," she replied with a smile. After getting those curls straightened, she studied the rest of him. He looked good, _really_ good in his suit. He looked back at her and grinned.

"By the way, have I told you how gorgeous you look?" he asked.

Sarah beamed. "Only about a dozen times so far today. But I wouldn't mind hearing it again."

"You look gorgeous," he said as he admired her in her blue dress.

"You both look great," Ellie interrupted. Chuck and Sarah turned away from each other and looked at Ellie and Devon seated across from them in the waiting room.

"Thank you! And you and Devon look great too," Chuck replied.

"Sarah, this was such a good idea! I'm so glad that you suggested all of us doing it. Chuck and I haven't had any formal portraits done in years. So it was about time we did this. And to get formal photographs done of each of us, and in pairs and then get the whole family all together – well, that was a great idea!" Ellie enthused.

Sarah smiled. Ellie had said "family." She considered her family. Sarah couldn't remember any time in her life when the word "family" conjured up pleasant thoughts – until now. She looked at Chuck. She was a part of his family. She was family and he was family.

"I can't wait to get these all done and then see how they turn out. I'll bet a photograph of you and Chuck will be fabulous!" Ellie gushed, interrupting Sarah's thoughts.

"Well, I wanted to get some photos of the two of us. I thought it was about time that Chuck had some new ones – _and better ones_ – to put in his desk drawer," Sarah said. Then she and Ellie shared a conspiratorial smile.

Two adults, three kids filed out of the photographer's studio and past them. A few seconds later, the photographer called out.

"Bartowksi! Is the Bartowski family ready?"

Ellie, Devon and Chuck rose and walked to the studio. Chuck stopped and let Ellie and Devon go ahead as he spotted Sarah still seated. "Something wrong?" he asked looking at Sarah.

Sarah lifted up her head and smiled. "No, nothing wrong at all," she said. In fact, everything was great and right, wonderfully right. Jill was locked away and hopefully out of his life for good. Sarah now had Chuck to herself. She and Chuck were about to move in together into their own place. And she now had a family. It all felt so right and so wonderful. She reached up and grabbed the hand that Chuck offered to help her up. She stood, tucked her arm in his as they walked into the studio for their first formal photograph together. That too felt right and wonderful.

She truly felt like she was part of a family. She felt…loved.

**THE END**

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**NOTE:** OK, that does it for this story. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you will review as I love to read your comments. In case you're interested, I am currently working on two more Chuck stories. The next one is titled "Chuck vs. the Super Spy." It will be mostly Chuck/Sarah fluff and what action/adventure in it will be to generate fluff. I hope to start posting it in a few weeks. But we'll see. I have a strict rule about posting chapters to my stories – I do not start posting until I have at least a first draft of the entire story done. That way, you readers will get the complete story with an ending. Don't you just hate it when people post chapters and then never finish their story? And while on that subject – come on all of you writers that haven't finished your stories! FINISH THEM! Don't leave us hanging there!


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